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A   Memorial  of 
Ella  Campbell  Ewing 


BY 


The  Class  of  1905,  Eureka  College 


NEW  YORK 
Press  of  Eaton   &  Mains 


K7  E  s- 


♦£>- 


TO  HER  MOTHER 


2951)58 


CONTENTS 

Page 
Foreword 7 

I 
Ancestry  and  Childhood 9 

II 
College  Days 19 

III 
Among  Girls 30 

IV 
The  Missionary  Appointment 42 

V 
Africa 53 

VI 
In  Memoriam 71 


FOKEWOED 

During  commencement  week  at  Eureka  College 
in  June,  1907,  a  group  of  the  class  of  1905,  after 
a  class  dinner,  was  discussing  the  changes  the  two 
years  of  separation  had  brought.  Uppermost  in 
the  minds  of  all  was  the  loss  which  had  come 
through  the  death  of  Ella  Ewing  after  a  service 
of  three  months  in  a  mission  station  at  Bolenge, 
Africa.  This  was  a  personal  loss  to  all  of  these 
members  of  the  class,  for  in  her  each  had  a  friend. 
What  could  they  do  to  show  their  appreciation 
of  her  life?  One  thing  there  suggested  was  the 
writing  of  a  little  volume  that  should  tell  her  life 
story  simply — just  as  it  had  been  lived.  It  was 
believed  that  this  might  be  an  inspiration  to  young 
men  and  women  who  should  read  it  for  nobler, 
more  consecrated  living  wherever  their  lives  were 
cast.  Perhaps  in  this  way  the  influence  of  her  life 
might  be  increased. 

It  is  with  this  desire  that  the  book  has  been 
prepared.  It  has  been  hard  not  to  eulogize  when 
the  subject  has  been  so  tempting,  but  the  effort 
has  been  to  tell  the  story  truly  and  simply. 

The  members  of  the  class  desire  to  express  their 
appreciation  for  contributions  made  by  Mrs. 
Emma  C.  Ewing,  her  mother;  Mrs.  Ferae  Stroud 

7 


, .   Foreword 

Pratz,  an  intimate  college  friend;  Mrs.  Eva  Dye, 
her  companion  of  the  last  days ;  and  President  E. 
E.  Hieronymus,  of  Eureka  College.  Without  their 
help  the  book  in  its  present  form  would  have 
been  impossible.  A  group  of  four  more  closely 
woven  into  the  interests  of  her  life  could  not 
probably  be  found. 

This  book  is  sent  to  all  who  may  read  its  pages 
as  a  loving  memorial,  trusting  that  their  lives  may 
be  made  richer  by  the  contact  with  the  life  of 
this  one  who  in  every  sense  was  a  Christian. 


Ancestry  and  Childhood 

The  story  of  this  brief,  beautiful  life  is  worth 
telling  because  it  unfolds  the  secret  of  joyous, 
happy  living,  a  secret  hidden  from  multitudes 
of  people.  It  is  worth  telling  because  it  was  so 
potent  in  touching  and  influencing  for  good  other 
young  lives,  inspiring  them  to  render  a  larger, 
nobler  service  than  they  would  otherwise  have 
done.  It  is  worth  telling  because  it  will  help 
many  people  to  discern  the  values  of  life  in  more 
just  proportion,  and  may  lead  some  to  yield  them- 
selves to  the  Master  of  us  all. 

Ella  Campbell  Ewing  was  born  in  Jackson- 
ville, Illinois,  on  February  13,  1883.  She  was 
the  eldest  in  a  family  of  five,  two  daughters  and 
three  sons.  A  half-brother  and  sister,  many  years 
her  senior,  were  gone  from  the  home  before  her 
birth.  No  character  or  career  can  be  fully  un- 
derstood without  considering  heredity  and  early 
environment.  A  study  of  these  conditions  may  be 
helpful  in  the  interpretation  of  this  life.  The 
ancestors  of  this  noble  girl  were,  without  excep- 
tion, honorable,  upright,  intelligent  people.  The 
distinguishing  trait  in  all  of  them  was  their 
strong  religious  natures,  their  deep  reverence  for 

9 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

spiritual  things.  Her  great-grandmother  on  the 
mother's  side  was  banished  from  her  father's 
house,  disinherited  and  disowned,  because  she 
dared  to  renounce  the  faith  of  her  fathers,  leav- 
ing the  Church  of  England  to  cast  in  her  lot 
with  the  unpopular,  even  despised  Baptists.  Un- 
daunted, she  left  the  home  of  her  youth,  and 
accompanied  by  a  sister  who  sympathized  with 
her  in  her  religious  convictions,  came  to  America, 
where  she  became  the  wife  of  a  Baptist  minister. 
Some  books  from  the  private  library  of  this 
worthy  couple,  discolored  with  age,  and  bearing 
the  name  of  the  owner  and  the  library  number, 
are  still  in  possession  of  the  family.  One  of  these 
was  "Memoir  of  Mrs.  Ann  H.  Judson,  late  Mis- 
sionary to  Burmah." 

Both  of  her  grandfathers  were  deeply  interested 
in  the  vital  questions  that  agitated  the  public 
mind  in  their  time.  Chief  among  these  was  the 
subject  of  slavery,  the  foul  blight  that  threatened 
to  destroy  the  fair  tree  of  American  liberty.  This 
great  evil  was  not  then  held  in  such  general  dis- 
repute as  at  present.  Many  good  Christian  peo- 
ple looked  upon  slavery  as  the  normal  condition 
of  the  negro  race,  and  regarded  the  "inalienable 
rights  of  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happi- 
ness" as  the  exclusive  possession  of  white  people. 
Even  devout  students  of  the  Bible  failed  to  grasp 
10 


Ancestry  and  Childhood 

the  truth  that  the  Fatherhood  of  God  as  revealed 
in  the  New  Testament  necessitated  the  brother- 
hood of  man,  and  that  it  was  the  divine  purpose 
tc  unite  the  whole  human  race  into  one  great 
f amity.  Both  ancestral  lines  held  very  pronounced 
views  on  this  subject,  regarding  human  slavery 
as  an  unmitigated  evil,  wholly  at  variance  with 
the  avowed  principles  of  the  American  republic 
and  the  spirit  of  Christianity.  When  her  Grand- 
father Ewing  was  a  young  man  with  a  very 
slender  income,  he  was  the  recipient  of  a  small 
inheritance,  consisting  principally  of  negro  slaves. 
With  sublime  indifference  to  pecuniary  results, 
he  promptly  set  them  free,  incurring  the  lasting 
displeasure  of  relatives  who  did  not  share  his 
lofty  conceptions  of  equity  and  justice. 

Her  Grandfather  Campbell,  while  not  an  official 
of  the  "Underground  Kailway"  of  slavery  times, 
was  responsible  on  numerous  occasions  for  the 
steaming,  jaded  condition  of  the  horses  in  his 
uncle's  barn  at  daybreak,  when  fugitive  slaves  had 
been  helped  on  their  way  to  freedom  and  safety 
in  Canada. 

Another  instance  indicates  the  nobility  of  char- 
acter of  those  from  whom  Ella  inherited  her  good 
qualities,  and  also  shows  the  deep  interest  they 
felt  in  the  black  race.  Her  mother's  mother  while 
quite  a  young  woman  was  left  with  a  family  of 
11 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

helpless  children  dependent  upon  her.  The 
father's  illness  had  been  long  and  tedious,  extend- 
ing through  a  period  of  several  years.  Their 
home  was  gone,  there  was  no  income,  no  means 
of  sustenance.  Poverty  stared  them  in  the  face. 
But  loving  friends  from  her  girlhood  home  came 
to  her  relief,  offering  home  and  comfort  and 
ease  if  she  would  return  to  them  in  Kentucky. 
She  gently  but  firmly  refused  all  these  offers  of 
assistance,  giving  as  her  only  reason  for  so  doing, 
that  she  was  unwilling  to  rear  her  children  in  a 
slave  State.  Years  passed,  and  this  noble  woman 
was  for  a  second  time  a  widow,  not  left  in  poverty 
nor  yet  in  affluent  circumstances,  but  with  some 
means  at  her  disposal.  It  was  just  at  the  time 
that  an  effort  was  being  made  to  establish  a  school 
at  Edwards,  Mississippi,  to  promote  the  uplifting 
of  the  recently  freed  negroes  of  the  South.  With 
characteristic  generosity,  and  denying  herself 
luxuries  to  which  most  people  would  have  con- 
sidered her  justly  entitled,  she  gave  the  first  thou- 
sand dollars  that  was  paid  toward  establishing 
that  school  that  has  been  so  potent  a  factor  in  the 
development  and  uplifting  of  those  degraded 
people.  Her  sympathies  were  ever  with  the  op- 
pressed and  unfortunate.  Hers  was  a  quiet,  un- 
ostentatious life,  but  she  exerted  a  wide  influence 
through  those  whom  her  kindness  blessed. 
12 


Ancestry  and  Childhood 

From  one  standpoint  these  occurrences  may 
seem  trivial  and  unimportant,  but  from  another 
they  have  great  significance.  In  the  light  of  later 
developments,  especially  in  their  relation  to  Ella's 
life,  they  appear  as  generations  of  preparation 
for  Africa,  revealing,  as  they  do,  deep  interest  in 
the  oppressed  black  people,  sympathy  with  them 
in  the  wrongs  from  which  they  suffered,  and  a 
compassionate  desire  to  help  them — all  of  these 
culminating  in  the  brave,  consecrated  young  life 
so  willingly  and  eagerly  given  that  she  might  have 
part  in  the  redemption  of  Africa. 

Her  father,  John  M.  Ewing,  was  an  upright, 
straightforward,  Christian  gentleman.  No  one 
could  point  to  any  dishonorable  act  of  his  life. 
Unostentatious,  simple  in  his  tastes,  earnest  in  his 
purposes,  a  sincere  friend,  an  honorable  business 
man,  a  faithful  officer  in  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
he  left  to  his  children  the  rich  legacy  of  an  hon- 
ored name. 

Mrs.  Ewing  also  came  of  parentage  of  the 
highest  order,  devout,  intelligent,  well-to-do  peo- 
ple, who  honored  God,  owed  no  man,  feared  no 
man.  They  were  capable  of  taking  broad  views 
of  life,  and  were  interested  in  all  things  good. 
The  word  of  a  Campbell  was  always  found  to  be 
as  good  as  his  bond.  The  environment  of  her 
home  life  was  peculiarly  favorable.  Her  parents, 
13 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

free  from  the  anxious  responsibilities  of  wealth  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  harassing  cares  of  straitened 
means  on  the  other,  were  free  to  live  their  lives 
as  they  would,  and  to  turn  all  their  powers  to  ac- 
count. Hers  was  a  bright,  happy  home,  whose 
inmates  lived  in  simple  comfort  and  unselfish 
enjoyment.  Ella's  earlier  years  were  those  of  a 
joyous,  happy  child.  Possessed  of  a  bright,  sunny 
disposition,  and  a  rare  charm  of  manner,  she 
was  a  general  favorite  with  old  and  young.  As 
soon  as  she  was  old  enough  to  comprehend  she 
loved  to  listen  to  the  reading  of  the  juvenile  books 
with  which  she  was  always  bountifully  supplied. 
She  was  greatly  interested  in  the  children's  mis- 
sionary periodical  "Little  Builders  at  Work,"  and 
never  wearied  of  hearing  about  the  needs  of 
heathen  people  and  the  work  in  those  dark  lands 
as  brought  down  to  childish  comprehension  in 
that  little  publication.  Sometimes  as  she  listened 
with  an  earnest,  far-away  look  in  her  lovely  eyes 
she  would  say,  "I  will  go  when  I  am  a  woman," 
or,  "I  will  be  a  missionary  when  I  grow  up." 
The  thought  of  being  a  missionary  seemed  native 
to  her  mind,  and  no  counter  purpose  ever  entered 
her  heart  at  any  time,  although  she  did  not  often 
speak  of  it.  It  was  too  sacredly  cherished  to  be 
often  mentioned. 

As  a  child  she  was  remarkably  healthful  and 
14 


Ancestry  and  Childhood 

vigorous  and  active.  Ever  ready  for  a  frolic, 
she  saw  the  ludicrous  side  of  everything,  and  could 
do  her  part  in  creating  fun  of  the  right  kind.  She 
entered  with  zest  into  all  her  childish  sports.  A 
playhouse  erected  by  her  father  in  the  door-yard, 
and  furnished  with  chairs,  table,  dressers,  china 
closet,  book  shelves,  etc.,  and  tenanted  by  a  family 
of  dolls,  was  a  source  of  unending  delight  to  her. 
The  wardrobes  for  this  extensive  family  were  made 
by  her  clever  little  hands,  and  were  the  envy  of 
her  playmates,  few  of  whom  possessed  such  skill 
as  she  in  fashioning  the  various  articles  of  doll 
apparel. 

She  eagerly  seconded  the  efforts  of  her  active 
wide-awake  brothers  to  provide  home  entertain- 
ment, for  they  were  trained  to  rely  upon  their 
own  resources  and  not  to  make  themselves  ob- 
noxious by  too  frequent  demands  upon  neighbors. 
On  one  occasion,  "Buffalo  Bill"  having  given  a 
street  parade  and  exhibition  in  Jacksonville,  which 
was  evidently  just  the  proper  thing  in  the  eyes  of 
the  Ewing  children,  they  called  in  a  few  of  their 
little  neighbors  and  after  consultation  decided  to 
have  a  "show."  The  horse,  surrey,  miniature  ex- 
press wagons,  carts,  baby  carriage,  and  doll  car- 
riages, were  called  into  requisition.  Ella  designed 
head  gear  and  other  regalia  that  King  Solomon 
never  dreamed  of,  painted  the  Indians  the  proper 

15 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

hue,  used  stray  chicken  feathers  for  eagle  pinions, 
and  put  horse  blankets  and  lap  robes  to  unknown 
uses.  She  seemed  to  be  specially  gifted  in  her 
new  role  of  circus  manager.  The  show  passed 
off  to  the  full  satisfaction  of  all  the  gleeful  par- 
ticipants, as  well  as  to  the  amusement  of  the 
passers-by,  no  one  enjoying  it  more  than  Ella. 

When  the  snow  fell  if  one  did  not  enjoy  a  good 
rousing  snow-balling  it  was  unsafe  to  attack 
Ella,  for  she  manifested  the  same  activity  and 
untiring  energy  in  this  as  in  everything  else.  She 
enjoyed  skating  and  all  outdoor  sports,  and  ex- 
celled in  everything  she  undertook. 

She  was  as  helpful  as  she  was  playful,  and 
was  the  one  sought  to  "work  examples"  for  her 
bewildered  little  classmates  when  they  could  not 
"prove"  their  conclusions.  She  did  this  with  the 
same  readiness  that  in  later  years  caused  her  to 
be  asked  to  translate  sentences,  or  to  reveal  the 
mysteries  of  mathematics  to  those  of  her  school- 
mates that  had  not  yet  learned  the  simplicity  of 
numbers  or  the  co-relation  of  languages. 

While  yet  a  child  Ella  was  a  valued  helper  in 
the  negro  industrial  school  started  and  supported 
by  her  mother.  With  her  own  deft  little  hands 
she  guided  the  clumsy  untrained  fingers  of  the 
girls  in  sewing.  The  promise  which  never  failed 
was  that  each  completed  garment  should  become 
16 


Ancestry  and  Childhood 

the  possession  of  the  little  seamstress,  but  the 
putting  on  of  buttons  and  the  making  of  button 
holes  was  always  considered  the  special  privileged 
duty  of  Ella  and  her  mother.  She  also  delighted 
in  making  herself  useful  in  the  negro  Sunday 
school,  not  as  a  regular  teacher  but  as  a  substitute 
when  her  mother  could  not  go,  and  also  in  helping 
to  drill  the  little  ones  when  they  were  preparing 
for  Children's  Day  or  Christmas  exercises,  teach- 
ing them  the  songs,  serving  as  organist,  or  hearing 
their  recitations.  She  liked  to  see  everybody 
having  a  "good  time/'  and  was  never  happier 
than  when  contributing  to  the  enjoyment  of 
those  less  favored  than  herself.  This  character- 
istic trait  of  her  childhood  appeared  through  all 
her  life.  Her  highest  wish  was  accomplished 
when  she  could  lavish  upon  the  degraded  negroes 
of  the  Congo  her  heart-wealth  of  loving  service. 
At  sixteen  she  taught  regularly  in  the  primary 
department  of  the  Bible  school  in  the  home  church, 
and  also  had  full  charge  of  a  similar  department 
in  the  mission  school  that  was  in  successful 
operation  at  that  time  on  the  south  side  of  the 
city. 

From  early  childhood  it  was  her  delight  to  make 
herself  useful,  and  to  be  helpful  in  every  possible 
way.    It  is  easy  to  think  of  her  in  the  higher  serv- 
ice to  which  she  has  been  called,  as  filling  a  place 
17 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

among  the  ministering  spirits  who  are  "sent  forth 
to  those  who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation." 

Her  influence  in  the  home  was  like  sunshine 
in  May,  cheering,  enlivening,  a  power  for  good. 
Her  native  loveliness  and  high  principle  shone 
radiantly  here.  She  was  a  most  obedient  and  lov- 
ing daughter,  soothing  many  a  heartache  and 
cheering  many  a  clouded  hour  for  her  mother. 
Her  brothers  and  sister  learned  through  her  what 
the  depth  of  a  sister's  affection  is.  Her  constant 
aim  was  to  give  a  right  bias  to  their  characters. 
The  one  great  sorrow  that  shadowed  her  joyous 
life  was  the  loss  of  her  father  whom  she  loved 
devotedly.  He  preceded  her  six  years  into  the 
higher  life.  The  memory  of  her  childhood  years 
is  to  those  who  loved  her  most  sweet  and  fragrant 
as  the  fairest  flowers,  and  it  is  a  pleasure,  though 
not  unmixed  with  pain,  to  remember  that  she  has 
entered  upon  immortal  youth. 


18 


II 

College  Days 

After  graduating  from  the  high  school  of  Jack- 
sonville, Illinois,  in  June,  1902,  Ella  with  her 
family  removed  to  Eureka,  where  she  entered 
Eureka  College  the  following  September.  Thus 
even  during  her  college  course  she  was  to  be 
surrounded  by  the  home  she  so  deeply  loved  and 
whose  every  interest  she  earnestly  felt.  Doubt- 
less it  is  true  that  for  many  boys  and  girls  there 
is  an  advantage  in  being  removed  from  the  home 
environment  and  placed  amid  new  conditions, 
where  each  must  stand  on  his  own  feet  and  fight 
his  own  battles.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  needed 
no  such  training  as  this.  There  was  no  selfishness 
which  needed  elimination.  She  had  never  in  any 
weak  sense  been  dependent  upon  her  family,  but 
had  always,  rather,  been  a  support.  The  home 
formed  for  her  a  background  for  all  college  ac- 
tivities and  in  no  sense  hindered  but  rather  helped 
her  participation  in  these. 

She  came  to  college  a  quiet,  retiring  girl.  She 
watched  with  interest  the  arrival  of  the  new  stu- 
dents and  took  an  active  interest  in  all  the  events 
of  those  opening  days.  She  was  quiet,  not  for  a 
19 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

lack  of  individuality,  but  it  rather  was  a  part  of 
the  distinctiveness  of  personality  which  one  must 
early  feel.  Her  whole  appearance  was  simple,  but 
there  was  a  certain  glad  light  in  her  eyes  and  a 
sweetness  in  her  smile  which  one  must  see  and 
know  that  she  desired  to  be  a  helpful  friend. 

How  often  have  young  people  heard  during 
their  school  days,  "Enjoy  yourself  now,  for  these 
are  the  happiest  days  of  your  life."  Ella  would 
have  objected  to  this  statement,  saying  that  she 
believed  no  present  state  should  be  the  happiest, 
but  that  every  stage  of  one's  life  should  bring  a 
new  and  deeper  happiness.  College  days  do, 
though,  have  a  peculiar  charm.  There  is  no  later 
time  when  one  can  have  the  same  care-free  spirit 
of  "good  time"  and  comradeship  which  comes 
when  removed  from  the  world's  rush  into  a  quiet 
college  community,  where  all  have  similar  pur- 
poses. This  is  especially  true  of  Eureka,  where 
the  student  body  is  so  small  that  each  one  may 
know  the  other.  The  village  is  quiet,  and  the  stu- 
dents must  make  their  own  amusement.  This  is 
an  advantage,  because  it  calls  forth  all  of  one's 
resourcefulness.  Such  a  life  is  indeed  one  of 
romance.  We  are  young  and  all  things  are  pos- 
sible. Every  circumstance  is  novel,  calculated 
in  some  way  to  serve  our  growth  and  happiness. 
Even  those  of  us  who  have  had  unusual  cares  and 
20 


College  Days 

have  learned  to  toil  find  anew  the  joy  of  play. 
We  make  a  few  intimate  friends  and  a  wide  circle 
of  acquaintances.  We  build  our  aircastles,  talk 
about  our  ideals  to  those  about  us,  and  have  them 
criticised.  The  wonders  of  the  world  are  revealed 
to  us.  What  has  been  worth  while  throughout  the 
world's  history  has  been  preserved  in  the  books 
now  opened  to  our  minds.  In  the  teachers  we 
have  wise  guides  who  not  only  open  the  books 
for  us  but  tell  how  their  knowledge  may  be 
applied  to  our  lives.  All  of  this  makes  a  wonder- 
ful world — a  place  of  charm,  into  which  some 
enter  more  fully  than  others. 

To  Ella  Ewing  it  was  ever  a  joyous  world, 
and  into  it  she  poured  her  life,  drinking  in  its 
riches  in  return.  She  loved  it  all  and  regarded 
her  life  there  as  a  sacred  gift.  Her  studies  were 
ever  a  delight,  though  she  was  not  a  brilliant  stu- 
dent. Her  grades  were  always  good,  and  she 
eagerly  sought  the  truth.  She  didn't  care  for  high 
marks,  but  counted  development  of  much  greater 
value.  Some  studies  she  preferred  above  others, 
but  this  preference  never  made  her  unfaithful  in 
any  of  them.  She  was  not  satisfied  merely  to 
'•'learn"  a  thing,  but  wanted  to  know  its  meaning. 
She  placed  a  correct  emphasis  upon  the  value  of 
books.  They  were  to  her  treasure  houses  of  the 
world,  and  while  she  read  a  great  deal  and  was 
21 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

familiar  with  many  books,  she  wanted,  in  her  read- 
ing, to  get  something  always  that  could  be  counted 
worth  while.  This  balance  of  judgment  was  in 
no  sense  abnormal.  She  loved  to  read  what  any 
strong,  joyous,  Christian  girl  would  enjoy. 

Having  in  mind  constantly  her  purpose  to  be- 
come a  missionary  to  some  foreign  land,  she  took 
most  of  the  Bible  courses  oifered  by  the  college, 
and  Professor  Silas  Jones,  the  head  of  this  de- 
partment, says  of  her :  "Ella  Ewing  was  a  delight 
to  her  teachers.  She  was  faithful  in  the  doing  of 
her  tasks  and  she  carried  enthusiasm  into  the 
class.  The  subject  as  it  unfolded  possessed  an 
increasing  interest  for  her,  and  her  teachers  felt 
that  she  was  receiving  daily  benefits  from  her 
studies.  For  her  teachers  she  had  the  kindest  feel- 
ing. It  was  her  aim  to  help  them,  not  to  add  to 
their  difficulties.  It  was  an  exalted  privilege  to 
teach  her." 

Professor  J.  B.  Radford,  the  senior  professor 
of  the  college,  was  one  of  her  intimate  friends. 
In  the  college  the  professors  and  students  come 
very  close  together.  The  whole  community  is 
small  enough  that  these  guides  of  young  minds 
learn  to  know  the  individual  needs  and  the  ideals 
of  each  of  those  who  come  to  sit  under  them. 
They  are  men,  too,  who  recognize  this  opportunity 
and  do  not  fail  to  improve  it.  How  many  boys 
22 


College  Days 

and  girls  have  been  kept  from  shattered  ideals 
and  wasted  lives  by  words  from  these  wise  coun- 
selors! The  president  and  his  colleagues  of  the 
faculty  spend  hours  each  day  in  thus  striving  to 
be  really  helpful  to  those  who  need  their  help- 
fulness. No  student  appreciated  this  more  than 
Ella,  and  the  teachers  all  loved  her.  Professor 
Eadford  writes:  "I  do  not  feel  equal  to  the  task 
of  writing  a  tribute  to  Ella  Ewing.  It  would  be 
easier  to  estimate  the  soul-value  of  many  whom 
the  world  applauds  as  great  than  this  simple, 
obscure,  heroic,  humanity-loving  girl.  When  I 
recall  her  utter  unselfishness,  sincerity,  conscien- 
tiousness and  cheerfulness  born  of  faith,  the  state- 
ment that  she  regarded  me  as  one  of  her  favorite 
teachers  gives  me  more  pleasure  than  the  applause 
cf  multitudes.  I  quote  what  I  have  already  pub- 
lished in  two  papers  for  youth:  'Near  the  close 
of  1906  a  young  girl  sat  beside  me  at  our  family 
table  at  the  evening  meal.  In  a  few  weeks  she 
went  to  plague-stricken,  sin-darkened  Africa  and 
died  in  the  attempt  to  carry  light  to  those  who 
were  in  that  valley  of  the  shadow.  Grand  old  John 
Milton  sang,  "Peace  hath  her  victories  no  less  re- 
nowned than  war."  It  is  just  as  true  that  peace 
hath  her  heroisms  more  sublime  than  war.  Women 
in  the  humble  theater  of  the  home,  in  the  face  of 
poverty,  loneliness,  sickness,  and  sorrow,  have  dis- 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

played  immeasurably  greater  and  sublimer  hero- 
ism than  was  ever  displayed  in  all  the  battlefields 
of  war.  I  have  seen  much  of  war  and  heroism> 
but  have  never  known  a  braver  soul  than  Ella 
Ewing/ "  The  other  members  of  the  college 
faculty  would  bring  tribute  equally  high  to  the 
nobility  of  this  girl,  their  pupil. 

She  was  a  member  of  the  Periclesian  Literary 
Society,  entering  with  spirit  into  all  of  its  pro- 
grams and  social  meetings.  She  was  also  a  very 
popular  member  of  the  "As  You  Like  It  Club/' 
limited  to  a  membership  of  twelve  girls.  She 
loved  fun  as  much  as  anybody,  and  at  times  when 
"new  rules"  were  made  concerning  games  and 
other  pleasures  about  the  college,  she  could  be 
as  indignant  as  other  healthy  students  when  they 
considered  that  those  in  authority  had  overstepped 
their  limits.  She  was  loyal  to  the  college  in  all 
athletic  sports — helping  to  make  banners,  creat- 
ing new  songs  and  yells,  and  always  wanted  to 
be  in  the  girls'  cheering  section.  She  herself 
was  an  enthusiastic  basket  ball  player  until  an 
accident  impaired  her  health  so  that  she  could 
no  longer  play. 

She  entered  with  zeal  into  the  sports  of  her 

brothers,  wanting  to  see  them  excel  in  whatever 

they  did.    When  they  and  some  other  friends  were 

fitting  up  a  fraternity  house  she  helped  with  sug- 

24 


College  Days 

gestions  and  in  other  ways,  and  was  regarded  by 
the  fraternity  fellows  as  their  sister.  They  never 
hesitated  to  confide  in  her,  and  ever  held  her  in 
the  highest  esteem.  She  was  interested  in  all 
college  pranks  that  were  innocent,  and  admired 
frankness  and  honesty  everywhere. 

It  has  already  been  said  that  her  home  was  the 
background  for  all  of  her  college  life.  This  could 
hardly  be  overemphasized.  Early  in  that  first 
year,  when  the  freshmen  wanted  to  have  their  first 
"frolic,"  it  was  to  the  Ewing  home  that  they  were 
invited.  It  was  a  strenuous  affair.  The  poor 
freshmen  were  attacked  by  the  upper  classmen, 
and  several  were  captured.  Both  boys  and  girls 
had  to  sneak  in  at  the  back  door  of  the  house; 
one  fellow  skinned  his  hands  through  sliding 
down  a  rope  to  make  his  escape  from  prison  and 
others  were  roughly  used,  but  finally  all  were  as- 
sembled. To  them  it  was  a  great  night,  and  no- 
body entered  into  the  excitement  and  fun  more 
heartily  than  did  Ella.  Her  home  was  the  home 
of  many  a  lonely  girl  on  every  }^ear  during  those 
"first  days,"  so  long  as  Ella  was  in  college.  But 
in  it  all  she  tried  to  make  no  extra  work  for  the 
mother.  She  was  a  veritable  Martha  in  the  home, 
and  no  one  could  be  more  unselfish  than  she  in 
her  home  relationships.  At  any  time  she  would 
give  up  an  evening's  engagement  that  her  mother 
25 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

might  have  the  pleasure,  often  making  the  excuse 
of  study,  as  she  could  in  no  other  way  induce  her 
mother  to  go.  Her  devotion  to  her  brothers  and 
sister  was  constant.  If  their  lessons  were  difficult, 
she  neglected  her  own  that  they  might  have  theirs. 
And  when  things  went  wrong,  as  they  do  at 
times  with  all  boys,  she  stood  with  good  cheer 
and  encouragement  ready  to  smooth  things  out 
and  draw  their  attention  in  some  other  direction 
until  the  sun  shone  again. 

For  one  year  she  was  president  of  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  of  the  college. 
Among  the  other  work  of  this  position,  all  of 
which  she  did  admirably,  numerous  social  duties 
fell  to  her  lot — the  providing  of  entertainments, 
preparation  for  receptions,  welcoming  new  stu- 
dents. She  was  at  home  in  any  of  these  social 
gatherings — pointing  out  some  bashful  fellow  for 
somebody  to  entertain,  introducing  all  strangers, 
talking  with  the  professors,  or  overseeing  the  re- 
freshments in  the  kitchen.  All  of  these  things 
over  which  she  had  charge  went  enthusiastically, 
because  she  put  so  much  of  her  own  enthusiasm 
into  them.  She  never  sought  positions  of  leader- 
ship, but  these  in  time  came  to  seek  her,  and  she 
graciously  and  humbly  accepted  her  work.  Dur- 
ing the  summer,  when  a  few  students  usually  re- 
mained to  "make  up  work,"  her  home  was  their 
26 


College  Days 

home  and  she  did  much  to  make  them  less  lonely 
when  nearly  all  the  college  population  had  been 
removed. 

Being  a  resident  of  Eureka,  she  entered  heartily 
into  the  life  of  the  church  there,  was  a  teacher  in 
the  Sunday  school,  an  active  spirit  in  Christian 
Endeavor  work  and  a  leader  in  the  Missionary 
Circle.  Into  this  work  she  carried  her  enthusiasm 
and  joy.  These  could  never  be  left  behind  because 
they  were  a  part  of  her — inground  with  all  the 
interests  of  her  life.  She  was  a  valuable  assistant 
in  this  work  and  sought  out  the  lowliest,  that  she 
might  make  him  welcome  in  the  Lord's  house. 
It  was  natural  for  her  to  be  thoughtful  and  un- 
selfish— natural  because  her  love  of  God  was  real. 
The  children  in  Sunday  school  loved  her.  They 
are  more  ready  than  adults  to  recognize  true 
character,  and  no  man  or  woman  hates  and  shuns 
pretension  more  than  they. 

Ella's  friendships  were  deep  and  lasting.  In 
one  sense  of  that  word  she  might  not  be  called 
popular,  but  she  was  so  in  the  highest  sense.  She 
never  sought  it.  Her  desire  was  to  love  rather 
than  be  loved.  She  was  not  frivolous  and  never 
had  those  enslaving  friendships  which  seem 
dearer  than  life  itself  for  a  time  but  which  are 
short-lived.  She  had  three  or  four  friends  whose 
souls  were  knit  to  hers.  She  respected  their  in- 
27 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

dividuality,  they  hers.  They  were  friendships 
not  to  be  talked  about,  and  which  could  not  be 
made  but  which  just  came.  She  was  thankful 
for  them  and  enjoyed  them  to  the  full.  Then 
there  was  another  larger  group  that  knew  her 
intimately;  they  all  loved  and  admired  her,  hav- 
ing been  associated  with  her  in  the  classroom,  the 
society  ball,  the  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociation cabinet,  and  elsewhere.  Still  others, 
who  had  not  become  so  intimate,  looked  upon  her 
with  admiration  and  felt  that  if  ever  they  were 
in  trouble  they  could  go  to  her.  A  life  seldom 
produces  more  than  three  or  four  friends  in  whom 
one  can  feel  all  confidence,  and  know  that  no 
matter  what  may  come  these  few  will  remain 
true,  that  they  care  about  what  happens,  and  one 
can  always  be  sure  of  their  sympathy  and  help. 
Indeed,  that  man  or  woman  is  rich  who  possesses 
such.  These  came  to  Ella  Ewing  in  her  college 
days.  They  still  think  of  her  and  are  helped  by 
that  friendship.  One  of  these  friends  after  hav- 
ing written  something  concerning  her  life  said: 
"Words  could  never  express  the  feeling  I  had  for 
Ella;  thus  this  seems  so  hollow.  Ella  was  such 
a  dear,  common  girl,  not  too  lofty  for  anyone  to 
love." 

It  will  be  readily  seen  that  she  entered  into  all 
the  life  with  which  she  found  herself  surrounded 
28 


College  Days 

when  she  entered  college.  Society,  fun,  study, 
church,  and  friendships,  each  had  its  place, 
and  she  gave  to  and  received  from  each,  so  that 
her  life  was  well  rounded  and  enriched.  With 
these  manifold  interests,  she  was  ahle  by  doing 
work  through  one  summer  to  graduate  in  1905, 
having  done  heavy  work  all  the  time  in  college, 
so  that  she  completed  the  course  in  three  years. 
It  would  be  unjust  not  to  say  what  must  be 
already  known  to  the  readers,  from  this  narra- 
tion— that  through  everything  and  at  all  times 
she  was  a  Christian.  This  was  evident.  She 
didn't  need  to  talk  of  it,  and  there  was  no  re- 
ligious cant  in  her  life.  She  was  in  college  a 
quiet  power  for  the  Christ  to  whom  she  had 
given  her  life. 


29 


Ill 


Among  Girls 

Begin  the  day  with  God; 

Kneel  down  to  him  in  prayer; 
Lift  up  thy  heart  to  his  abode, 

And  seek  his  love  to  share. 

Open  the  Book  of  God, 

And  read  a  portion  there, 
That  it  may  hallow  all  thy  thoughts, 

And  sweeten  all  thy  care. 

Go  through  the  day  with  God, 

Whate'er  thy  work  may  be; 
Where'er  thou  art,  at  home,  abroad, 

He  is  still  near  to  thee. 

Converse  in  mind  with  God; 

Thy  spirit  heavenward  raise; 
Acknowledge  every  good  bestowed, 

And  offer  grateful  praise. 

Conclude  the  day  with  God; 

Thy  sins  to  him  confess; 
Trust  in  the  Lord's  atoning  blood, 

And  plead  his  righteousness. 

— Selected. 

Ella  Ewing  followed  this  rule  for  her  daily 
life  from  the  time  she  could  lisp  her  baby  prayers 
until   she  was   called  from   her  chosen  work   at 
30 


Among  Girls 

Bolenge,  Africa,  to  her  eternal  rest.  All  who 
knew  her  soon  learned  the  source  of  her  power 
and  happiness.  They  were  made  to  feel  that  her 
heavenly  Father  was  a  reality  in  her  life,  not 
some  one  who  was  far  away  and  whose  help  was 
asked  in  times  of  trouble  or  sorrow,  but  with 
whom  some  time  each  day  was  spent,  and  whose 
will  was  sought  in  all  things — duty  or  pleasure. 

Early  she  learned  the  importance  of  small 
things  and  she  went  about  doing  good  in  these 
rather  than  waiting  for  some  great  thing.  This 
was  one  of  the  lessons  she  early  learned  from  the 
life  of  Jesus.  Every  life  she  touched  was  glad- 
dened by  "little  things"  of  thoughtfulness  and 
love.  Of  this  characteristic  a  classmate  has 
written:  "Near  the  close  of  the  summer  of  1904 
I  spent  a  few  days  with  Ella  at  her  home  in 
Eureka,  preparatory  to  attending  the  Student 
Conference  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association  at  Lake  Geneva.  At  that  time  as 
never  before  I  was  impressed  by  the  talent  of  ap- 
preciation of  the  small  things  of  everyday  life 
which  she  possessed.  She  arrived  in  Eureka 
from  an  extended  visit  at  the  old  home  in  Jack- 
sonville on  the  same  train  as  I;  consequently, 
she  was  busy  with  the  preparation  for  the  visit 
to  Geneva.  But  she  was  always  ready  to  listen 
to  the  other  members  of  the  family  as  they  told 
31 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

about  the  little  things  which  had  happened  in  her 
absence,  and  not  only  to  listen  but  to  manifest  an 
intense  interest  in  them.  The  little  brother  was 
made  happy  by  her  questions  concerning  his 
pastimes  during  the  summer,  and  the  younger 
sister  was  praised  for  the  way  she  had  learned  to 
cook.  These  are  only  two  instances  out  of  the 
many.  At  the  time  this  thought  came  to  me — 'If 
every  girl  would  take  the  time  to  express  the  in- 
terest which  she  feels  in  the  home,  what  a  grand 
result  would  follow!  Would  not  our  homes  be 
truly  the  garden  spots  of  the  world  P  " 

It  was  among  the  college  girls  that  Ella's  life 
was  especially  fruitful,  and  this  thoughtfulness 
for  the  "little  thing"  made  it  so.  All  of  them 
liked  her,  from  the  youngest  girls,  who  regarded 
her  as  a  sort  of  ideal,  to  those  of  her  own  age, 
who  enjoyed  her  intimate  companionship.  She 
had  no  enemies,  though  some  appreciated  her 
spirit  more  than  others.  She  was  equally  gener- 
ous and  helpful  with  all.  Her  very  simplicity 
and  naturalness  won  them  all.  New  students 
would  say:  "You  don't  mean  to  say  she  is  going 
to  be  a  missionary?  Why,  she's  much  too  sweet 
and  attractive  for  that — and  jolly,  too!"  For 
she  always  had  a  good  time.  It  was  a  common 
expression  with  her  that  things  were  "the  most 
fun."  She  had  such  a  way  of  sharing  her  good 
32 


Among  Girls 

times  that  the  most  timid  and  reserved  girls  were 
always  included.  While  she  had  before  her  al- 
ways a  lofty  ideal  which  many  could  not  ap- 
preciate, it  in  no  way  kept  her  from  seeing  the 
importance  of  the  present  and  from  entering 
fully  into  all  of  its  interests.  She  loved  whole- 
some fun,  picnics,  "spreads,"  athletics  just  as 
much  as  any  of  her  companions  in  the  college  life. 
She  had  that  love  of  humanity  which  made  her 
feel  her  kinship  with  all  mankind,  and  her 
neighbor  and  friend  were  those  nearest  who 
needed  her. 

She  was  sad  over  any  mistake  which  another 
girl  might  make,  and  when  she  saw  any  incident 
where  a  word  or  smile  or  deed  might  help  one 
who  had  erred  she  was  always  ready  to  give  it. 
Many  girls  felt  this  helpfulness.  Yet  the  highest 
usefulness  which  she  made  of  the  opportunity  of 
those  years  when  surrounded  by  so  many  whose 
lives  and  characters  were  in  the  making,  was  by 
so  living  that  her  life  would  be  an  inspiration. 
To  many  who  had  come  from  rural  communities, 
where  the  principal  religious  activity  was  a 
church  service  once  a  week,  this  untiring  interest 
in  others  was  something  new.  They  had  looked 
upon  church  and  Christianity  even  as  limitations 
— things  quite  necessary  but  surely  not  to  be 
enjoyed.  To  such  girls,  largely  through  Ella 
33 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

Ewing's  work,  an  awakening  came.  They  caught 
some  of  her  joy.  Eeligion  came  to  be  to  them, 
as  it  was  to  her,  a  very  real  force.  Jesus  and  the 
other  Bible  characters  became  real  men  and 
women.  Perhaps  not  one  of  these  girls  could  tell 
any  particular  thing  which  she  had  said  to  help 
them,  but  they  would  not  deny  the  influence — • 
the  shadow,  as  it  were,  of  her  life  which  had 
fallen  on  theirs. 

It  was  very  natural  that  she  should  become  the 
president  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociation. It  was  perhaps  equally  to  be  expected 
that  her  term  of  office  should  see  more  accom- 
plished than  usual.  She  in  no  way  disappointed 
those  who  looked  to  her  for  leadership.  She  had 
as  her  cabinet  an  unusually  strong  lot  of  girls. 
Her  strength  increased  that  of  all  the  others.  A 
complete  canvass  was  made  among  the  girls,  with 
the  result  that  an  unusually  large  number  be- 
came members  of  the  Association,  and  the  Bible 
classes  were  large  and  enthusiastic.  She  was  wont 
to  do  too  much.  Mrs.  Dye,  who  knew  her  so  well 
in  Bolenge,  in  speaking  of  her  said :  "Any  of  you 
who  knew  Ella  Ewing  know  how  impossible  it 
was  to  keep  her  from  going  beyond  her  strength, 
and  with  her  tireless  energy,  to  keep  her  from 
doing  the  many  duties  that  always  lay  near  her." 
This  was  especially  true  in  her  work  for  the  As- 
34 


Among  Girls 

sociation.  As  its  leader  her  thoughts  and  plans 
for  anything  that  might  be  helpful  to  the  girls 
were  unceasing.  By  the  constant  thought  which 
she  gave  in  this  way  so  much  was  accomplished 
that  those  who  saw  the  results  could  only  wonder 
at  the  quiet  power  behind  the  worker.  The  source 
of  her  power  and  cause  of  the  success,  she  would 
say,  came  from  the  Divine.  Nothing  was  ever 
undertaken  without  prayer  for  help  and  guidance. 
This  had  such  an  important  place  in  her  life.  Was 
it  some  girl  she  wanted  to  help,  some  new  plan  for 
the  Association,  some  difficulty  to  be  overcome? 
— for  everything  there  was  prayer.  Nor  was  it 
forgotten  when  some  blessing  had  come  or  some 
success  been  attained;  then  the  prayer  of  thank- 
fulness was  always  given.  Strength  from  her 
Father  in  her  winning  personality  could  not  be 
withstood.  Her  cabinet  girls  saw  her  faith  and 
could  but  share  the  spirit  of  her  work.  The  growth 
in  character  shown  by  some  of  these  and  the  work 
they  were  able  to  do  both  surprised  and  delighted 
the  college  leaders. 

Yet  with  all  of  her  zeal  it  was  in  a  very  quiet, 
unassuming  way  that  she  worked,  so  that  those 
watching  might  think  she  herself  was  doing  little. 
Nevertheless,  the  work  was  done  as  a  result  of  her 
leadership.  When  things  could  not  be  done  as 
she  had  thought  best — if  what  she  really  desired 
35 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

in  a  certain  way  was  denied  her,  she  never  gave 
up  nor  lost  courage,  but  it  was  her  way  to  consider 
it  a  part  of  God's  plan  for  his  work  and  his  chil- 
dren, and  she  would  think: 

This  thing  on  which  thy  heart  was  set,  this  thing 

that  cannot  be, 
This  weary,  disappointing  day,  that  dawns,  my  friend, 

for  thee — 
Be   comforted:    God   knoweth   best,  the   God   whose 

name  is  love, 
Whose  tender  care  is   ever  more  our  passing  lives 

above. 
He  sends  the  disappointment?    Well,  then,  take  it 

from  his  hand. 
Shall  God's  appointment  seem  less  good  than  what 

thyself  had  planned? 

God  bids  thee  labor,  and  the  place  is  thick  with  thorn 

and  brier; 
But  he  will  share  the  hardest  task,  until  he  calls 

thee  higher. 
So    take    each   disappointment,    friend;    'tis   at   thy 

Lord's  command; 
Shall  God's  appointment  seem  less  good  than  what 

thy  self  had  planned? — M.  E.  Songster. 

Every  girl  who  has  attended  a  Y.  W.  C.  A.  con- 
ference at  Lake  Geneva  has  hallowed  memories 
of  that  beautiful  place.  The  Eureka  College  girls 
who  attended  the  conference  in  1904  have  an  un- 
usually rich  store  of  memories,  because  in  all  their 
36 


Among  Girls 

thoughts  Ella  Ewing  is  inseparably  linked  with 
all  the  events  of  the  conference.  Four  Lincoln 
College  girls,  one  from  Bradley  Polytechnic  In- 
stitute and  three  from  Eureka,  Ella,  Cora  Coriell 
and  Lucretia  ("Crete")  Elliott,  shared  one  tent 
in  the  Illinois  section.  Ella  and  Crete  roomed 
together.  Such  good  times  as  the  eight  girls  had ! 
They  were  very  proud  of  the  living  room  of  their 
tent.  The  secretaries  said  that  their  rugs  and 
pillows  made  it  the  most  aristocratic  one  on  the 
grounds. 

Ella  enjoyed  the  conference  as  much  as  any 
girl  ever  did.  She  had  many  opportunities  to 
talk  to  the  workers  concerning  her  chosen  work. 
She  entered  with  her  whole  soul  into  the  recrea- 
tions of  the  place.  The  girls  in  this  tent  had  a 
boat  rented.  She  took  great  pleasure  in  rowing; 
but  not  even  this  sport,  of  which  she  was  so  fond, 
could  induce  her  to  miss  the  meetings  of  the 
Volunteer  Band,  which  came  at  a  time  when  row- 
ing is  most  enjoyed.  No  doubt  at  this  time  she 
met  girls  who  remember  gratefully  the  lesson 
which  her  life  and  spirit  always  taught.  That 
this  always  impressed  itself  wherever  she  was  is 
witnessed  by  this  word  from  one  of  the  National 
Student  secretaries,  three  years  after  the  con- 
ference, during  which  time  nothing  had  transpired 
to  bring  her  in  contact  with  Miss  Ewing:  "I  am 
37 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

quite  sure  that  I  well  remember  her  as  one  of 
the  delegates  at  the  summer  conference  in  the 
West  several  years  ago." 

One  of  the  speakers  at  Geneva  that  year  was 
the  Eev.  Willis  E.  Hotchkiss,  a  missionary  to 
Africa.  No  one  could  listen  unmoved  to  the 
graphic  recital  of  his  experiences  in  the  Dark 
Continent.  His  address,  upon  "The  Need,  the 
Supply,  the  Trust,"  especially  appealed  to  Ella. 
It  seemed  to  strengthen  her  desire  to  go  to  Africa 
— not  to  lose  her  life  but  to  find  it,  for  she  thor- 
oughly believed  these  words  of  Mr.  Hotchkiss: 
"You  talk  about  losing  your  life  in  foreign  mis- 
sion fields.  If  there  is  any  place  in  God's  world 
where  a  man  or  woman  can  find  his  or  her  life, 
it  is  there." 

As  has  already  been  intimated,  her  greatest 
happiness  came  from  the  thought  that  she  was 
permitted  to  serve — to  give  of  her  life.  Nothing  so 
made  the  sunshine  come  from  her  face  as  to  know 
that  she  was  really  helping  somebody.  She  counted 
it  all  a  part  of  her  joyous  service  to  God.  More 
than  one  girl  can  be  found  who  was  led  to  do 
some  kind  of  active  Christian  work  because  of  the 
example  of  the  joyous  and  loving  service  of  this 
girl  who  was  their  friend.  While  before  knowing 
her  they  may  have  counted  such  work  a  drudgery 
or  burden,  something  that  would  deprive  them 


Among  Girls 

of  pleasure,  their  acquaintance  with  her  made  them 
anxious  to  know  her  joy.  She  "lived  not  unto  her- 
self." 

This  spirit  is  shown  from  the  fact  that  one  of 
her  favorite  songs  was, 

I'll  go  where  you  want  me  to  go, 
I'll  be  what  you  want  me  to  be. 

Miss  Margaret  Sherff,  Editor  of  the  Association 
publication  of  Peoria,  Illinois,  writes  this  tribute 
to  her:  "I  shall  never  forget  the  evening  in  Octo- 
ber, 1905,  when  I  was  sent  by  our  secretary  to  give 
a  talk  on  Bible  study  to  the  Eureka  Associa- 
tion to  help  stimulate  the  new  girls,  who  were  just 
entering  college,  to  join  a  Bible  class.  The  open- 
ing hymn  was  being  sung  when  Miss  Ewing  and 
I  entered  the  hall,  and  we  stood  talking  together 
a  few  minutes  in  the  anteroom,  for  she  was  in 
the  midst  of  telling  me  that  she  was  a  student 
volunteer  and  was  intending  to  go  to  Africa  as 
a  'living  link'  of  her  church.  She  was  joyfully 
studying  then,  a  faithful  student  of  God's  Word, 
of  unceasing  prayer  life,  and  full  of  vivacity.  Just 
as  she  was  enthusiastically  telling  me  her  one  aim 
was  to  be  used  of  Christ  in  saving  these  Africans 
whose  souls  were  as  pure  and  precious  in  his  sight 
as  all  others,  and  that  she  felt  called  to  her  life- 
work  in  Africa  alone,  the  strains  of  the  next  song 
39 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

just  begun  in  the  adjoining  room  came  to  us,  and 
Miss  Ewing  radiantly  cried,  Til  have  to  sing  that ! 
I  can't  keep  still  as  it  is  sung!'  The  song  was 
Til  go  where  you  want  me  to  go.' " 

After  a  brief  separation  from  college  friends, 
during  which  time  she  had  been  obedient  to  the 
voice  of  God,  on  one  bright  May  afternoon  in 
1907  all  the  sunshine  seemed  taken  away  by  one 
brief  line  from  across  the  sea,  bearing  the  news 
that  Ella  Ewing  had  gone  from  her  earthly  home 
to  enter  a  higher  service.  All  those  whose  lives 
she  had  ever  touched  felt  that  this  was  a  personal 
sorrow,  and  a  more  eloquent  tribute  could  not 
be  paid  than  the  grief  felt  by  those  girls  who  had 
been  so  closely  associated  with  her  during  the  three 
years  of  her  college  life  and  the  one  and  one  half 
years  before  her  departure,  when  she  had  done 
graduate  work  in  the  college.  Classes  were  out 
of  the  question,  and  the  students  gathered  in  little 
groups  about  the  campus  and  buildings,  silent 
for  the  most  part,  for  tears  came  which  would  not 
be  stopped. 

On  that  afternoon  two  or  three  girls  who  had 
known  her  in  a  very  personal  way  were  talking 
over  some  of  the  incidents  in  Ella's  busy  life, 
recalling  among  other  things  one  Saturday  even- 
ing at  the  very  beginning  of  her  college  course 
when  she  had  led  the  devotional  meeting  of  the 
40 


Among  Girls 

Christian  Association.  The  theme  for  discussion 
that  night  was  "College  Friendship/5  and  Ella 
had  read  from  John  the  words  of  Jesus  to  his  dis- 
ciples, "This  is  my  commandment,  That  ye  love 
one  another/'  and  ending  with  the  words  which 
were  so  prophetic  of  her  own  life:  "Greater  love 
hath  no  man  than  this,  that  a  man  lay  down  his 
life  for  his  friends."  Then  in  her  earnest,  thought- 
ful way,  she  told  of  her  own  ideals  about  friend- 
ship. "One  must  not  be  selfish  with  friends,  nor 
exclusive  about  them;  one  must  be  ready  to  sacri- 
fice for  them,  and  be  willing  to  bear  with  them 
and  for  them."  And  as  she  urged  that  each  girl 
might  have  a  vision  of  what  this  commandment  of 
love  could  mean  it  seemed  to  those  who  knew 
her  best  that  quite  unconsciously  she  was  pictur- 
ing not  her  ideal  but  her  life  as  it  really  was. 

Some  one  has  said  that  if  a  man  only  lives  in 
accordance  with  his  highest  ideals,  it  is  only  a 
question  of  time  until  God  will  mold  him  into 
a  perfect  likeness  with  them.  That  is  why  those 
girls  who  knew  Ella  best  have  marked  those  verses 
in  John,  the  fifteenth  chapter,  as  the  best  story 
of  her  life  that  could  ever  be  written. 


41 


IV 

The  Missionary  Appointment 

The  purpose  to  become  a  missionary  would  seem 
almost  to  have  been  inherited.  Her  grandmother's 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  the  "freeclmen,"  her 
mother's  work  among  the  black  people  in  Jackson- 
ville, show  an  intense  eagerness  to  help  those 
who  had  not  the  light  of  Christ's  love.  When 
Ella  was  three  months  old,  holding  the  baby  in 
her  arms,  her  mother  dedicated  her  to  the  cause 
of  missions  and  faithfully  and  prayerfully  trained 
her  to  love  the  missionary  idea.  Thus  it  was  that 
missions  became  to  her  the  very  breath  of  life. 

It  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  write  of  the  pur- 
poses that  any  individual  may  have  in  life  without 
touching  almost  every  phase  of  that  life.  A  pur- 
pose that  is  real  and  genuinely  great  acts  as  a 
motive  of  the  whole  being.  The  pursuit  of  it  is 
coexistent  and  coextensive  with  success  and  hap- 
piness. The  accomplishment  of  it  in  its  fullness 
is  seldom  realized,  but,  like  a  worthy  ideal,  it  con- 
stantly keeps  pace  with  our  advance  and  grows 
as  we  enlarge  our  vision. 

A  truly  great  purpose  is  not  often  a  creature 
of  our  conscious  efforts.    We  may  feed  and  nurture 


The  Missionary  Appointment 

it,  but  sooner  or  later  it  becomes  an  atmosphere 
in  itself,  a  nature  in  which  we  live  and  grow.  It 
assumes  control  of  our  efforts.  It  feeds  our  char- 
acter and  by  its  passionate  mastery  it  may  make 
us  creatures  of  good  or  evil. 

A  purpose  of  this  kind  is  seldom  acquired  in 
a  day  or  by  any  one  special  impulse.  We  occasion- 
ally find  one  whose  overwhelming  ambition  was 
born  in  a  moment  of  great  mental  or  spiritual 
conflict.  But  such  an  one  may  lean  to  the  extreme 
of  fanaticism.  Very  often  great  purposes  do  not 
take  definite  shape  until  they  are  called  forth  by 
some  summons  from  above  or  from  within;  but 
there  are  usually  to  be  found  a  number  of  associa- 
tions, influences,  or  inclinations  that  have  been 
day  by  day  storing  the  mind  and  heart  with  the 
e]ements  of  future  activity.  We  may  truly  say 
that  most  often  a  great  purpose  had  its  beginning 
in  a  parental  ambition  and  its  earliest  nurture  in 
childhood.  It  grows  with  the  mind  and  body.  It 
does  not  crowd  out  other  things,  but  it  uncon- 
sciously encourages  every  phase  of  development,  to 
the  end  that  it  may  prove  useful  later.  In  its 
own  time,  it  becomes  a  rational  passion,  a  calm, 
natural  control  that  endows  us  with  the  sense  that 
we  were  born  for  this  one  end. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  fact  that  the  influence 
of  a  great  purpose  may  be  good  or  it  may  be 
43 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

evil.  A  child  born  in  an  atmosphere  of  injustice 
and  reared  to  ideals  of  vengeance  will  almost  ir- 
resistibly develop  the  murderer.  In  the  ascending 
direction,  the  results  are  the  same.  The  fruit  of 
an  exalted  and  unselfish  purpose  is  a  beautiful, 
unselfish  life.  Such  a  life  with  such  a  purpose  was 
that  of  Ella  Ewing.  Measured  by  all  standards, 
her  purpose  was  surely  a  great  one.  There  can 
be  no  purpose  more  unselfish,  more  ennobling,  than 
the  consecration  of  self,  time,  talents,  everything 
to  this  greatest  of  causes,  the  evangelization  of  the 
world.  Foreign  missions,  in  particular,  is  an  ex- 
pression of  pure  unselfishness.  When  in  the  midst 
of  friends  and  familiar  surroundings,  we  may  find 
ourselves  almost  unconsciously  thinking  of  their 
attitude  toward  us.  Not  that  the  desire  to  excel 
is  not  laudable,  but  we  often  desire  excellence  for 
its  reflex  tribute  to  ourselves  rather  than  for  its 
power  in  the  cause.  The  foreign  missionary  goes 
to  his  chosen  field  and  labors  in  the  midst  of  over- 
whelming difficulties  with  few  or  none  of  his  own 
sympathetic  race  to  look  on.  He  is  honored  and 
loved  for  his  service,  but  God  and  eternity  alone 
can  tell  the  story  in  its  fullness. 

All  other  ambitions  which  might  have  been  in 

the  life  of  Ella  Ewing  were  made  to  bend  to 

this  one  central  purpose.     She  never  aspired  to 

anything  else  and  it  was  always  her  first  thought 

44 


The  Missionary  Appointment 

to  fit  herself  for  this  work.  To  this  end  she  was 
always  anxious  to  do  anything  that  would  increase 
her  usefulness,  counting  as  necessary  to  her  de- 
velopment even  any  simple  domestic  knowledge. 
In  view  of  these  facts,  it  is  not  hard  to  understand 
how  she  would  readily  and  naturally  fall  in  with 
the  declaration  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Move- 
ment :  "It  is  my  purpose,  if  God  permit,  to  become 
a  foreign  missionary."  It  would  seem  that  her 
life  fitted  admirably  into  the  positive  meaning  of 
this  pledge  as  it  is  given  by  D.  Willard  Lyon: 
"It  is  the  expression  of  a  firm  and  determined 
purpose  to  make  the  foreign  missionary  work  one's 
lifework,  if  God  permit." 

We  may  be  able  to  see,  in  some  measure  at  least, 
the  way  in  which  this  purpose  moved  her,  by  a 
perusal  of  the  burning  sentences  which  she  read 
and  marked  in  the  little  book  by  Sherwood  Eddy, 
"The  Supreme  Decision  of  the  Christian  Student." 
Here  is  one:  "And  what  are  the  opportunities  in 
this  vocation?  To  go  to  a  nation  whose  very 
springs  are  corrupted,  whose  government  is  un- 
stable, social  conditions  debased,  economic  prob- 
lems unsolved ;  a  people  drinking  the  dregs  of  im- 
morality; to  go  to  them  with  all  the  little  brain 
we  possess,  but,  vastly  more  important,  with  a 
gospel  that  will  solve  every  problem  and  transform 
every  evil;  to  establish  -  light  centers,  to  train  the 
45 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

native  ministry,  to  guide  a  growing  church,,  to 
mold  a  nation's  life;  to  know  that  even  in  the 
face  of  apparent  present  failure  ultimate  success 
is  assured;  that  'to  the  missionary  the  future  is 
as  certain  as  if  he  had  touched  it.'  He  expects 
long  toil  and  many  disasters,  hut  he  looks,  as  surely 
as  he  looks  for  the  sunrise  after  nights  of  tempest 
and  of  lingering  dawn,  for  the  ultimate  illumina- 
tion of  the  world." 

On  the  opposite  page  is  another:  "I  would  not 
like  it,  were  you  fitted  to  be  a  missionary,  that 
you  should  drivel  down  into  a  king.  What  are  all 
your  kings,  all  your  nobles,  all  your  diadems 
when  you  put  them  together,  compared  with  the 
dignity  of  winning  souls  for  Christ,  with  the  spe- 
cial honor  of  building  for  Christ,  not  on  another 
man's  foundation  but  of  preaching  Christ's  gospel 
in  regions  far  beyond?"  On  still  another  page, 
we  find  this  heavily  underscored:  "There  will  be 
men  beyond  the  sea  who  will  go  through  life  with- 
out the  knowledge  of  Christ  because  you  would 
not  let  him  send  you  to  them."  Again :  "A  world 
of  sinning  and  suffering  men,  each  man  my 
brother,  calls  on  me  for  work,  work,  work."  Also, 
"Whosoever  forsaketh  not  all  that  he  hath,  cannot 
be  my  disciple." 

The  idealism  of  missions  was  expressed  to  her 
in  this  marked  sentence:  "Perhaps  no  work  so 
46 


The  Missionary  Appointment 

nearly  approaches  and  repeats  the  work  of  Christ" ; 
the  appeal  of  missions,  in  the  following  marked 
paragraph :  "0  for  men  willing  to  do  God's  will ! 

0  for  men  seeking  to  know  it !  'Ask,  and  it  shall 
be  given  yon;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find;  knock,  and 
it  shall  be  opened  unto  you.' "  And  in  harmony 
with  the  same  thought  she  had  marked:  "A  man 
is  sitting  in  his  study.  A  friend  comes  in — 
'There  is  a  family  starving  in  a  house  right  across 
the  way!'  'Yes,  so  I  have  heard;  but  I  have  a 
brother  here  at  home  who  needs  food.  He  is  ob- 
stinate. He  has  locked  himself  in  his  room  and 
will  not  eat.'  'But  cannot  the  rest  of  your  family 
feed  him?'    'Yes,  but  I  have  influence  with  him. 

1  am  preparing  a  series  of  sermons  and  will  read 
them  to  him  every  Sunday  before  his  door.  I  am 
going  to  show  him  how  unreasonable  he  is.'  'But, 
man,  these  people  are  starving.  They  are  starving 
now!'  'But,  really,  I  don't  feel  called.  I  am  not 
drawn  to  them  somehow.'  'Have  you  ever  looked 
into  their  need  and  found  out  about  them  ?  Come 
over  and  look  into  their  hungry  faces  and  you  will 
feel  called.'  'Well,  I  will  consider  it.  I  am  will- 
ing to  go — I  hope — but — '  '0,  my  friend,  come 
now!  You  may  live  willing  and  die  willing,  but 
it  will  not  give  them  bread.  Will  you  go?'  "  Yes, 
across  this  broad  enlightened  land  there  are  men 
in  almost  every  college  and  seminary  who  admit 

47 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

the  need,  admit  they  could  meet  it,  but  who  let 
some  possible  future  question  postpone  the  issue. 
"Will  the  board  send  ?"  God  will  send.  "Will  the 
way  open  up  ?"  There  was  no  way  to  the  promised 
land,  but  the  waters  parted  when  the  leaders  of 
Israel  stepped  in  with  faith.  The  lions  in  Pil- 
grim's way  were  found  to  be  chained  when  he 
tried  to  pass  them.  Doubt  sees  impassable  moun- 
tains in  its  way,  but  faith  says,  "Be  thou  removed 
and  cast  into  the  sea." 

Ella  was  a  diligent  Bible  student.  She  seemed 
to  study  the  Word  for  pure  love  of  it.  She  pre- 
pared a  little  book  of  favorite  passages  which  she 
committed  to  memory.  These  verses  are  a  power- 
ful witness  to  her  love  of  the  cause  of  missions: 
Eomans  15.  1 :  "Now,  we  that  are  strong  ought  to 
bear  the  infirmities  of  the  weak,  and  not  to  please 
ourselves."  John  13.  16 :  "Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto 
you,  A  servant  is  not  greater  than  his  lord ;  neither 
one  that  is  sent,  greater  than  he  that  sent  him." 
Luke  15.  7:  "I  say  unto  you,  that  even  so  there 
shall  be  joy  in  heaven  over  one  sinner  that  re- 
penteth,  more  than  over  ninety  and  nine  righteous 
persons,  who  need  no  repentance."  Phil.  3.  10: 
"That  I  may  know  him,  and  the  power  of  his 
resurrection,  and  the  fellowship  of  his  sufferings, 
becoming  conformed  unto  his  death." 

She  was  a  great  reader  of  missionary  books. 
48 


The  Missionary  Appointment 

Nothing  in  the  College  Library  escaped  her,  and 
she  bought  many  books  relating  to  her  chosen 
field. 

The  absolute  unselfishness  of  her  purpose  is  best 
revealed  in  her  choice  of  field.  To  some,  perhaps, 
healthfulness  of  climate  and  immunity  from  dan- 
ger may  enter  into  the  consideration.  With  Ella 
Ewing  it  was  only  the  greatest  need  and  the 
place  where  she  could  accomplish  most  that  de- 
termined her  choice.  She  at  one  time  thought 
favorably  of  China  and  wanted  to  prepare  herself 
for  medical  work  there.  The  "open  door"  of  that 
country  greatly  appealed  to  her,  and  when  she  was 
forced  to  consider  questions  of  health  because  of 
her  illness  it  seemed  both  to  her  and  her  mother 
that  this  was  probably  her  God-appointed  field. 
The  Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society,  under 
whose  supervision  it  was  her  purpose  to  work,  also 
thought  favorably  of  China,  and  some  correspond- 
ence was  conducted  relative  to  an  appointment 
there.  Despite  all  this  there  was  a  yearning  for 
work  in  the  Dark  Continent,  and  at  last  when 
the  way  opened  for  her  appointment  there  she  was 
supremely  happy. 

The  following  paragraphs  which  she  had  read 

and  marked  made  a  strong  impression  upon  her: 

"Africa — Slavery,  Fettered  in  Soul,  manacled  in 

mind,  enslaved  in  body,  Africa  lies  prostrate  be- 

49 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

fore  the  rapine  and  avarice  of  the  world.  Dragged 
captive  by  the  Mohammedan,  crazed  by  the  intoxi- 
cants of  Christian  nations,  made  murderous  by 
their  firearms,  Africa  is  bleeding  out  her  lifeblood 
at  every  pore."  "In  the  great  heart  of  the  Dark 
Continent,  that  must  be  very  near  to  Him  who 
came  to  set  the  captive  free,  are  sevent}^-five  mil- 
lion souls  unsought  by  a  single  missionary.  The 
needs  of  our  home  mission  fields  are  great,  yet 
there  are  more  Christian  workers  among  the  eight 
million  negroes  of  the  South  than  among  the  one 
hundred  and  sixty  millions  of  Africa."  Again, 
"'When  we  come  to  consider  where  we  shall  go, 
the  presumption  is  in  favor  of  the  greatest  need." 
These  seem  to  indicate  the  workings  of  her  mind 
on  this  point.  0,  that  a  multitude  of  Christian 
people  might  be  actuated  by  motives  of  this 
character !  , 

In  spite  of  the  fact  of  her  deep  consecration, 
there  was  a  time  when  it  seemed  she  would  be 
unable  to  accept  any  appointment  under  the  For- 
eign Society.  She  was  for  several  months  quite 
unwell.  For  a  long  time  preceding  and  following 
her  graduation  from  college  she  was  under  the 
care  of  a  physician.  Her  recovery  was  slow.  Her 
best  friends  shook  their  heads  over  her  ever  assum- 
ing the  risk  of  going  into  a  strange  climate  so  far 
away  from  home.  She  felt  the  danger  herself  and 
50 


The  Missionary  Appointment 

this  is  found  among  her  marked  passages :  " Since 
the  way  seems  blocked,  has  my  love  for  the  heathen 
waned?  Am  I  willing  with  all  my  heart  to  write 
out  and  sign  this? — 'If  God  does  not  permit  me 
to  go  as  a  foreign  missionary,  I  will,  God  helping 
me,  make  just  as  many  sacrifices  for  the  heathen 
at  home  as  if  I  had  gone.  I  will  never  indulge 
in  luxuries.  Every  single  cent  throughout  my 
whole  life  shall  be  spent  in  realizing  the  need  of 
the  world  for  the  gospel.  My  time,  my  effort  and 
my  intellect  I  will  strive  to  use  with  my  eyes  upon 
a  ruined  world.' " 

She  did  not  feel  this  way  very  long,  however. 
She  continued  her  preparations  even  when  it 
seemed  useless  to  do  so.  She  used  to  say  to  her 
mother  at  this  time:  "Mother,  I  do  not  see  why 
you  think  it  impossible  for  my  health  to  be  re- 
stored. I  believe  when  the  time  comes  for  me  to 
go,  I  will  be  well."  This  was  her  constant  prayer 
and  with  implicit  faith  she  believed  it  would  be 
answered. 

In  the  summer  of  1906  Ella  gained  in  health 
and  seemed  to  be  feeling  well  again.  She  met  the 
examining  board  of  the  Missionary  Society  and  re- 
ceived her  appointment  to  Africa.  During  the 
summer  she  attended  at  Cincinnati  the  annual 
conference  held  for  the  missionaries  under  ap- 
pointment and  those  who  are  to  return  from  their 
51 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

furloughs.  Here  she  met  Miss  Alice  Ferrin,  who 
was  to  be  her  fellow  passenger  to  the  Congo 
and  her  coworker  in  that  field.  She  enjoyed  the 
conference  thoroughly  and  all  the  time  rejoiced 
as  the  time  approached  for  her  entrance  upon  her 
chosen  lifework.  When  she  finally  went  away 
from  Eureka  it  was  with  a  glad  heart  that  she 
looked  forward  to  her  work  in  Africa;  but  there 
was,  of  course,  the  sadness  of  saying  good-by  to 
her  people,  to  the  home  she  loved,  and  to  the 
many  assembled  at  the  station  from  the  college 
and  the  town  to  give  parting  messages.  Through 
all  of  this  trying  ordeal  of  farewell  receptions 
and  good-by  messages  she  kept  her  usual  calm 
and  bravery.  At  last  her  purpose  was  being  ful- 
filled— she  was  to  be  a  missionary. 


52 


Africa 

The  early  history  of  the  mission  at  Bolenge  is 
one  of  patient  toil  against  fearful  odds.  The  ter- 
rible degradation  of  the  people  made  it  impossible 
for  them  to  understand  the  possibility  of  a  single 
man  or  woman  living  a  pure  life.  Hence  for  the 
first  years  it  was  deemed  unwise  to  permit  single 
woman  missionaries  to  enter  this  field.  The  wives 
of  the  missionaries  who  were  there  did  what  they 
could  to  carry  on  all  the  departments  of  the  work 
naturally  devolving  upon  women.  But  after  the 
organization  of  the  little  native  church  and  the 
opening  of  the  girls'  orphanage  and  training 
school  more  women  workers  were  very  necessary. 

In  1906  a  petition  was  sent  to  America  for  two 
young  women  as  workers  at  Bolenge,  as  Mrs.  Dye, 
the  only  woman  then  at  the  station,  had  been 
stricken  with  a  severe  illness.  Twenty  girls  in 
the  orphanage,  a  large  day  school  and  women's 
meetings  all  needed  leadership.  Ella  Ewing  was 
then  preparing  to  go  to  China,  but  when  this  call 
came  and  she  was  asked  by  the  Foreign  Society 
to  consider  it,  she  felt  that  it  had  come  as  the 
fulfillment  of  her  long-cherished  ambition  to  work 
53 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

among  the  black  race.  From  the  day  of  her  ap- 
pointment Ella  set  herself  to  learn  everything 
available  concerning  her  future  work  and  de- 
sirable qualifications.  She  left  home  in  Decem- 
ber, and  with  Miss  Ferrin,  whom  she  had  met  in 
the  summer,  and  Mr.  Eldred,  who  had  been  in 
America  on  his  furlough,  started  on  the  long  jour- 
ney to  Bolenge. 

Meanwhile  those  on  the  field  were  anxiously 
awaiting  news  of  their  arrival.  A  reception  com- 
mittee, consisting  of  every  member  of  the  church 
and  all  the  people  of  the  village  and  mission  sta- 
tion, had  been  appointed.  However,  in  spite  of 
this  preparation,  they  came  in  unexpectedly  and 
found  every  one  at  work,  wholly  unprepared  for 
a  "reception."  Perhaps  it  was  better  for  them  to 
see  life  in  its  everyday  form  and  be  introduced  to 
the  busy  side  at  once.  It  was  a  happy  day  at  the 
mission.  Mr.  Eldred  was  cordially  welcomed 
back  to  his  work.  Miss  Ferrin  had  come  to  be 
the  bride  of  Mr.  Andrew  Hensey,  one  of  the  mis- 
sionaries, and  it  was  a  joy  to  see  them  reunited. 
All  together  shared  the  joy  of  welcoming  Ella 
to  her  new  work  and  home.  To  none  did  her  com- 
ing mean  so  much  as  to  Mrs.  Dye,  who  had  been 
forced  to  lay  aside  her  work,  but  who  now  rejoiced 
at  the  privilege  of  seeing  this  one  sent  of  God 
to  take  up  that  beloved  work  again. 
54 


Africa 

A  few  days  after  their  arrival,  February  9,  1907, 
was  Ella's  twenty-fourth  birthday.  She  had  heard 
that  it  was  the  custom  in  the  mission  to  always 
remember  such  days  and  in  her  sweet  unselfish- 
ness had  made  Miss  Ferrin  promise  not  to  tell 
lest  some  extra  work  be  done  in  her  behalf.  How- 
ever, it  was  discovered  and  preparations  were  made 
to  observe  it.  Unsuspectingly  Ella  helped  make 
all  arrangements,  thinking  it  but  the  ordinary 
preparation  of  the  evening  meal,  but  when  the 
two  girls  had  gone  to  their  room,  rugs  and  cush- 
ions were  quickly  spread  on  the  grass  on  the  bank 
of  the  Congo  and  the  cake  and  mementoes,  to- 
gether with  twenty-four  brass  rods  tied  with  a 
ribbon  were  put  on  a  rug  to  one  side.  All  were  in 
their  places,  Mr.  Eldred,  Mr.  Hensey,  Dr.  Wid- 
dowson,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Dye,  when  the  girls  caught 
sight  of  them.  To  those  watching,  it  was  a  beau- 
tiful picture  they  made  as  they  came  running, 
Ella  easily  outdistancing  Alice  in  the  race,  and 
then  the  sudden,  happy  surprise  when  Ella  saw 
the  vacant  place  and  its  meaning  burst  upon  her. 
Tears  filled  her  eyes,  though  the  wondrous  smile 
which  always  so  transformed  her  face  bespoke  her 
appreciation.     She  was  the  life  of  the  party. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  week  she  had  taken  her 
place  and  was  already  busy  helping  the  girls  with 
their  sewing,  and  was  attending  the  school  with 
55 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

Alice,  to  help  Mr.  Hensey  in  any  way  possible.  She 
had  begun  her  regular  study  of  the  language  and 
had  won  a  place  in  every  heart.  Naturally  an 
ideal  had  been  raised  for  the  young  woman  who 
should  come  in  answer  to  the  call,  and  in  Ella 
this  ideal  was  more  than  realized.  She  was  a 
girl  of  unusual  intellectual  power  and  of  true 
spiritual  worth,  which  manifested  itself  in  her 
unbounded  faith. 

In  the  weeks  that  followed  she  for  some  time 
took  full  charge  of  the  day  school  during  Mr. 
Hensey's  enforced  absence  and  proved  her  excep- 
tional ability.  She  won  the  love  of  every  child 
and  teacher  as  she  combined  extreme  gentleness 
with  tact  and  firm  discipline.  Her  whole  life 
had  been  a  preparation,  so  that  she  was  as  much 
at  home  cutting  out  garments  and  teaching  the 
girls  to  sew  them,  or  teaching  and  helping  the 
girls  in  the  kitchen  and  in  all  the  other  depart- 
ments of  their  domestic  training,  as  she  was  in  the 
school  room.  Ella  herself  describes  these  busy 
days  in  a  letter  which  was  written  April  14,  1907, 
after  she  had  been  on  the  field  for  two  months : 

Mr.  Hensey  and  Alice  Ferrin  had  to  go  to  Leopold- 
ville  and  Mr.  Eldred  has  been  in  the  "back  coun- 
try" on  an  evangelistic  trip,  leaving  only  four  of 
us — and  two  of  these  new  people — to  carry  on  the 
work.     You   can   imagine  how   busy  we  were.     Dr. 

56 


Africa 

Dye  had  to  do  all  the  preaching  and  look  after  the 
meetings,  so  Dr.  Widdowson  went  to  work  in  the 
dispensary.  This  is  no  small  task,  for  the  natives 
around  here  think  that  a  "European  doctor,"  and 
especially  Dr.  Dye,  is  a  most  wonderful  creature, 
and  they  come  to  him  with  everything.  Dr.  Wid- 
dowson has  been  in  Africa  only  a  few  months  and 
you  can  imagine  how  wearing  it  would  be  upon  one 
who  does  not  know  very  much  of  the  language.  Dr. 
Widdowson  is  also  a  carpenter,  and  he  has  to  over- 
see two  sets  of  workmen — one  set  is  building  my 
house  and  the  other  is  building  the  house  for  our 
new  printing  press,  which  will  be  here  in  about  a 
month.  Each  piece  of  lumber  has  to  be  sawed  out 
and  made  by  hand,  and  these  carpenter  men  have 
to  be  watched  very  closely.  All  of  this  keeps  one 
man  very  busy.  The  meetings  Dr.  Dye  has  to  look 
after  keep  him  busy.  There  are  two  church  services 
every  Sunday  and  Sunday  School  in  the  afternoon. 
Every  evening  right  after  supper  is  the  class  of 
people  who  have  asked  for  special  training.  Wednes- 
day night  is  native  prayer  meeting,  and  Friday 
night  is  Christian  Endeavor  meeting.  Saturday 
night  is  the  regular  church  meeting.  Every  morn- 
ing before  Dr.  Dye  sends  the  workmen  out  there 
is  a  short  gospel  service  for  them.  Besides  looking 
after  all  these  meetings,  he  had  to  give  the  numer- 
ous workmen  their  tasks  for   each  day. 

Mrs.  Dye  is  much  better.  She  seems  real  well 
now,  but  cannot  walk  very  far.  They  have  a  chair 
to  carry  her  in  when  we  go  out  from  the  house. 
She  is  such  a  splendid  planner  and  can  do  a  good 
deal   of  work  with   the   sewing  class.     It   is   really 

57 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

remarkable  what  that  woman  can  do.  Perhaps  you 
know  how  sick  she  has  been.  Two  or  three  times 
they  thought  she  was  dead  and  several  times  it 
seemed  that  she  could  not  possibly  live  more  than 
a  few  hours.  It  is  a  miracle,  people  out  here  think, 
when  they  see  her  now.  It  is  only  since  we  girls 
came  that  she  has  been  able  to  be  up  all  day,  but 
now  she  is  almost  every  day.  She  goes  to  church 
now  every  Sunday  morning — two  of  the  men  carry 
her  in  her  chair.  She  probably  never  would  have 
been  sick  if  there  had  been  more  missionaries.  She 
just  gave  out  from  overwork. 

This  left  me  to  run  the  school  all  by  myself. 
You  can  imagine  what  kind  of  a  time  I  had.  Had 
only  been  here  six  weeks,  knew  very  little  of 
the  language,  and  very  little  of  the  customs 
of  the  people.  One  of  the  native  Christian  boys 
always  went  with  me  and  conducted  the  opening 
exercises,  and  we  have  native  teachers  for  each  of 
the  classes.  I  had  to  get  the  work  ready  for  school 
and  then  visit  the  different  classes.  Fortunately, 
in  the  six  weeks,  I  had  enough  language  to  be  able 
to  tell  when  their  reading  was  right,  and  I  had 
learned  to  count  so  I  could  understand  the  arithi 
metic.  It  was  just  simple  addition  and  subtraction 
and  so  I  could  get  along,  but  it  was  slow  work. 
However,  it  has  been  a  good  thing  for  me,  for  I 
have  been  right  with  the  people  and  have  just  had 
to  make  myself  understood  some  way  or  other. 
Please  don't  think  that  I  am  complaining  because 
of  so  much  work  to  do — not  for  one  minute.  I  am 
so  happy  to  have  it  to  do.  I  was  simply  trying  to 
show  what  our  busy  life  is. 

58 


Africa 

Let  me  describe  a  day  at  the  station.  At  six 
o'clock  the  bell  rings  for  work.  Mrs.  Dye  and  I  do 
not  get  up  until  this  rings,  for  our  girls  know  what 
each  one  must  do  in  the  morning.  Dr.  Dye  gives 
the  men  their  tasks  for  the  day,  and  as  soon  as 
Dr.  Widdowson  has  started  his  men  to  work  he 
goes  to  the  dispensary  and  sees  what  people  he  can 
before  breakfast.  There  is  always  a  crowd  waiting, 
and  he  and  Iyokonsombo,  the  dispensary  boy,  are 
kept  very  busy  giving  out  medicine  and  looking 
after  all  sorts  of  things.  By  the  time  Mrs.  Dye 
and  I  are  dressed  some  of  the  girls  have  finished 
their  morning  tasks  and  are  ready  to  sew.  The  first 
thing  after  breakfast  the  bell  is  rung  and  all  the 
station  girls  come  in  for  prayers.  We  have  just  a 
simple  little  service — song  and  Scripture  reading; 
then  Dr.  or  Mrs.  Dye  says  a  few  words  about  the 
lesson  that  has  been  read  and  offers  prayer.  Some- 
times one  of  the  native  Christian  girls  leads  in 
prayer.  After  this  we  really  start  to  work.  Some 
of  the  girls  have  rooms  to  clean,  some  kitchen  work 
to  do,  some  clean  the  paths  and  the  house  and  some 
sew.  Mrs.  Dye  looks  after  the  sewing  girls  while  I 
get  the  school  work  ready.  I  will  tell  about  the 
school  work  later;  now  I  ought  to  describe  our 
station  girls. 

We  have  twenty  girls.  Some  of  these  have  no 
parents  or  friends,  while  some  have  Christian 
parents  who  have  sent  them  here  to  be  taught  and 
trained.  People  in  America  are  accustomed  to 
think  that  these  natives  are  such  an  ignorant  lot 
that  they  cannot  be  taught  much.  They  would  soon 
change  their  minds  if  they  could  see  our  girls.     It 

59 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

is  true  that  the  heathen  natives  do  not  know  how 
to  do  very  much,  and  cannot  read  or  write,  but  those 
who  have  become  Christians  or  have  had  anything 
to  do  with  Christians  soon  have  a  desire  to  learn 
more.  Our  girls  are  given  their  first  dress  all  made 
for  them,  but  after  that  each  one  must  make  her 
own  dress.  They  have  to  sew  by  hand,  and  some 
of  them  do  remarkably  well.  Of  course  they  have 
great  times  at  first,  and  have  to  try  again  and  again. 
One  little  tot,  who  had  just  come,  had  to  rip  out  the 
yoke  of  her  dress  so  many  times  that  she  wore  it  out 
and  had  to  be  given  a  new  yoke.  After  they  have 
learned  to  sew  well  by  hand,  and  can  make  button 
ho^es,  we  teach  them  to  use  a  little  hand  sewing 
machine.  They  are  proud  when  they  can  do  this.  A 
few  of  the  older  girls  do  very  nice  drawn  work,  but 
some  of  the  girls  could  not  learn  this.  They  are 
now  making  a  very  pretty  dress  for  Mrs.  Dye,  which 
she  expects  to  take  to  America  to  show  what  her 
girls  can  do. 

At  ten  o'clock  school  begins.  The  people,  old  and 
young,  about  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  in  all, 
line  up  in  front  of  the  school,  and  when  all  are 
quiet  march  in.  After  song,  prayer,  and  roll  call 
the  classes  go  to  work.  We  have  school  in  the  old 
church,  which  is  so  small  that  it  will  no  longer  hold 
the  crowds  that  come  to  the  services.  Some  of  our 
classes  meet  out  under  the  trees,  some  in  the  old 
church,  and  others  in  the  new  tabernacle,  where 
we  always  hold  the  Sunday  services.  The  work  is 
divided  so  that  each  class  reads  two  days,  writes 
two  days,  and  has  arithmetic  one  day.  All  of  the 
classes,  with  one  exception,  read  from  charts  which 

60 


Africa 

we  make  for  them.  These  charts  are  all  homemade. 
We  mount  the  paper  on  cloth  and  some  of  the  older 
girls,  who  use  the  machines,  sew  them  around  the 
edges  to  keep  them  from  tearing.  We  then  put 
sticks  across  the  top  like  we  have  on  the  kinder- 
garten charts  at  home.  Mrs.  Dye  writes  some  simple 
little  story  in  Loukundu  which  we  print  on  the 
chart  with  a  hand  sign  printer.  These  answer  the 
purpose  well,  but  it  is  rather  slow  work  making 
them.  However,  I  enjoy  it.  Mark  and  James  have 
both  been  translated  into  Doukundu,  and  we  use 
these  for  text-books  in  the  most  advanced  class.  I 
do  not  attempt  to  hear  this  class  but  can  get  along 
very  well  with  the  others.  For  writing  in  the 
older  class  we  have  copy  books,  and  they  use  ink. 
For  each  day  we  write  some  short  Bible  verse  which 
they  can  learn  while  they  are  writing.  The  next 
class  below  this  writes  with  pencil  and  we  make  a 
copy  for  each  one  in  the  class.  The  other  classes 
use  slates  and  we  just  make  one  copy  for  each  class 
on  the  blackboard.  How  hard  they  do  work  and 
how  they  like  to  have  the  "white  mamma"  look 
at  their  writing  and  help  them  with  it!  All  of  the 
classes  but  two  have  charts  for  their  arithmetic. 
These  are  made  like  the  reading  charts.  The  two 
older  classes  are  doing  harder  work  in  addition  than 
these  chart  classes.  Arithmetic  is  their  hardest 
work,  but  they  do  try  so  hard  and  want  to  learn 
so  much.  The  native  teachers  are  simply  the 
brightest  pupils  from  each  class,  and  they  only  keep 
order  and  see  that  all  work.  The  teacher  must  visit 
each  class  each  day,  and  see  how  they  are  doing 
their  work  and  hear  them  read.  I  really  enjoy  this, 
and  it  is  a  great  help  to  me  in  getting  the  language. 
61 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

After  an  hour's  work  we  call  the  classes  together, 
teach  them  the  verse  for  the  week,  and  close  with 
song  and  prayer.  Some  days  when  they  work  real 
hard  we  send  them  to  the  orange  trees  and  let  each 
one  pick  an  orange.    This  pleases  them  very  much. 

We  take  a  rest  at  noon  when  it  is  so  warm,  but 
at  two  o'clock  the  bell  calls  all  to  work  again.  Our 
girls  either  sew  or  work  in  the  garden.  Many  of 
the  Christians  wear  clothes  now,  and  we  have  the 
girls  make  garments  to  sell  to  them.  In  the  evening 
the  new  people  study  the  language. 

We  are  a  busy,  happy  family  here.  We  have 
done  away  with  all  formality.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Dye 
are  Royal  and  Eva,  Mr.  Hensey  is  "Handy  Andy," 
Dr.  Widdowson  is  "Widdy,"  Miss  Ferrin  and  I  are 
Alice  and  Ella.  Mr.  Eldred  is  older  than  the  rest 
of  us  and  sometimes  we  call  him  "Pop,"  but  usually 
Mr.  Eldred.  The  natives  have  their  own  names 
for  us.    Mine  is  "Mamma  Wuteji." 

We  had  a  wonderful  experience  when  the  evan- 
gelists returned  the  last  time.  After  three  weeks  of 
special  training  the  evangelists  go  out  into  the 
"back  country"  for  two  months'  teaching.  At  the 
end  of  this  time  they  return  to  Bolenge,  bringing 
with  them  those  who  want  to  hear  more  of  the 
teaching.  They  all  come  in  at  the  same  time,  and 
for  three  weeks  we  have  a  kind  of  convention  or 
conference.  There  are  now  about  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  members  in  the  church  and  they  still 
keep  up  the  average  of  one  evangelist  for  each  ten 
members.  All  the  church  members  tithe.  It  is  not 
a  requirement,  but  it  is  Bible  teaching,  and  that  is 
enough  for  them.  The  Bible  is  the  book  to  them. 
If  they  get  into  any  difficulty  or  trouble  and  come 
62 


Africa 

to  Royal  to  have  it  decided,  all  he  has  to  do  is  to 
tell  them  what  the  Bible  teaching  is  about  that  diffi- 
culty, and  if  they  are  Christians  that  is  what  they 
will  do.  It  really  should  put  us  Christians  in  Amer- 
ica to  shame  to  hear  them.  But  to  finish  about 
the  return  of  the  evangelists:  They  came  in  on 
Friday  morning,  and  Saturday  morning,  just  as  we 
were  going  to  sit  down  to  breakfast,  they  came 
marching  in  from  the  village  and  crowded  around 
our  back  steps.  They  sang,  "Praise  God,  from  whom 
all  blessings  flow,"  and  then  thanked  God  for  sending 
back  Mr.  Eldred  and  two  more  white  teachers.  I 
was  so  happy  as  we  stood  there  and  looked  into 
their  black  faces,  and  I,  too,  thanked  God  that  he 
had  permitted  me  to  come  to  "darkest  Africa"  to  help 
in  his  work.  I  could  not  begin  to  tell  of  all  the 
meetings  that  were  held  while  these  people  were 
in.  Besides  the  religious  meetings  which  they  at- 
tended, many  of  them  wanted  to  go  to  school.  We 
had  three  hundred  and  five  enrolled  in  school  while 
they  were  here.  This  meant  the  organizing  of 
several  new  classes  and  lots  of  work,  but  Andy  and 
Alice  were  both  here  then,  so  there  were  three  of 
us.  to  get  work  ready.  These  were  busy,  happy  days. 
These  people  are  so  hungry  to  hear  the  gospel. 
There  were  so  many  meetings  during  the  day  that 
one  would  think  the  people  would  be  all  tired  out, 
but  sometimes  they  would  come  to  the  door  late  at 
night  and  beg  for  more  teaching. 

Besides  all  this  great  work  here  there  is  the  great 

Bosera    District,    where    there   are    no    missionaries 

but  the  Catholics.     We  want  to  start  a  station  up 

there  if  the  government  will  give  us  land.     If  not, 

63 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

we  want  to  have  Bolenge  as  the  center  for  work 
and  have  men  to  go  there. 

At  the  Sunday  morning  service  Royal  heard  sixty- 
four  confess  their  faith  in  Christ  and  express  a 
desire  to  be  baptized.  We  then  went  to  the  river 
for  the  baptisms.  The  sixty-four  stood  on  the  shore 
together  and  stepped  into  the  water  at  the  same 
time.  Andy,  Royal,  and  Mr.  Eldred  baptized  them. 
One  could  hardly  keep  the  tears  from  his  eyes  during 
the  service  at  the  church.  The  people  were  so 
earnest  and  seemed  to  feel  and  mean  what  they  said. 
When  you  know  what  these  people  have  to  give  up 
and  what  some  of  them  endure  to  remain  true,  it 
means  lots  more.  The  Communion  service  in  the 
afternoon  will  always  be  remembered.  I  could  not 
understand  what  was  said,  but  I  was  never  more 
impressed.  It  was  one  of  those  meetings  that  you 
cannot  talk  about.  I  felt  that  I  was  indeed  on 
sacred  ground,  that  I  had  been  face  to  face  with 
my  Master. 

These  people  make  so  much  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 
If  they  have  had  any  little  trouble,  something 
which  at  home  we  would  not  think  amounted  to 
much,  they  will  make  it  right  before  they  come 
around  the. Table.  They  are  not  required  to  do  it, 
but  do  it  of  their  own  accord. 

People  may  say  what  they  please  about  the 
climate,  but  it  is  not  nearly  so  bad  as  most  people 
at  home  think.  Of  course  we  have  to  wear  our 
helmets  out  of  doors  during  the  day  and  must  be 
careful  at  all  times  not  to  get  overheated.  Some- 
times it  is  quite  cool  here,  and  sometimes  at  noon 
it  gets  very  warm,  but  it  never  has  been  nearly  so 
hot  as  I  expected  to  find  it.  I  am  well  and  happy 
64 


Africa 

and  have  not  even  been  threatened  with  fever.  I 
have  been  here  nine  weeks  yesterday. 

I  am  sitting  on  the  front  veranda  looking  over  the 
river.  The  view  is  beautiful.  Our  mission  has  the 
reputation  of  being  the  most  beautiful  on  the  Congo. 
It  is  the  only  American  station;  the  others  are 
English. 

You  should  see  us  when  the  mail  comes!  When 
the  mail  boat  goes  by  Royal  sends  a  messenger  to 
the  "State."  It  takes  two  hours  to  go  and  two  to 
return.  We  all  watch  the  path  and  when  the  mes- 
senger comes  into  sight,  we  drop  everything.  Royal 
opens  the  mail  bag  and  spills  the  mail  out  on  the 
floor.  You  would  think  we  were  all  children  to  see  us 
scramble  for  the  letters.  This  happens  only  every 
three  weeks,  so  you  can  understand  why  we  are  so 
glad  when  the  mail  does  come. 

Andy  came  back  yesterday,  and  Alice  will  come 
up  on  the  next  mission  boat.  They  have  been 
trying  to  get  permission  to  be  married  but  have 
been  having  a  hard  time  of  it.  The  State  has 
finally  given  its  consent  so  as  soon  as  Alice  comes, 
they  will  be  married.  There  was  some  little  thing 
about  a  certificate  that  did  not  just  please  the  State, 
and  they  were  not  going  to  let  them  marry. 

Into  this  new  life  of  an  African  mission  it  was 
the  same  joyous,  enthusiastic  girl  who  poured  her 
life.  As  in  childhood  her  interests  had  been 
many  and  her  conduct  unselfish,  as  in  college  she 
had  entered  into  all  of  its  activities,  and  in  her 
friendships  there  had  shown  the  greatest  unself- 
65 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

ishness,  so  now  all  of  the  mission's  interests  are 
hers  and  her  life  is  one  of  self-forgetfulness  and 
love.  "Busy  and  happy,"  her  own  words,  certainly 
describe  her  brief  life  there. 

When  the  invalid  mission  mother,  Mrs.  Dye, 
was  not  so  well  as  nsual,  she  learned  to  love  the 
presence  of  the  sweet  girl  who,  without  a  thought 
of  self,  tenderly  brushed  her  hair,  bathed  her  face, 
and  ministered  to  her  in  so  many  ways.  Ella 
lamented  the  fact  that  she  had  not  had  a  nurse's 
training,  that  she  might  help  in  the  hospital 
work  also,  and  resolved  to  study  and  help  as  best 
she  could.  She  was  one  of  those  rare  spirits  who 
see  something  to  be  done  everywhere  and  long  to 
help  in  it  all. 

During  the  time  while  negotiations  were  being 
carried  on  with  the  Congo  government  for  the 
consummation  of  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Hensey  and 
Miss  Ferrin,  preparations  were  being  made  for 
the  wedding  in  the  mission  home.  Ella  helped 
all  the  twenty  girls  make  themselves  new  dresses 
for  the  occasion.  Finally  arrangements  were  made 
and  the  day  set  for  the  wedding  drew  near.  The 
guests  had  arrived. 

At  the  close  of  a  memorable  day  when  a  party 
of  friends  had  come  on  a  mission  steamer,  Ella  was 
taken  suddenly  ill  and  left  the  table  almost  faint- 
ing. A  neighboring  missionary  was  to  give  a 
66 


Africa 

stereopticon  lecture  in  the  big  tabernacle  that 
night,  so  some  stayed  with  Dr.  Widdowson  to 
watch  Ella  while  Dr.  Dye  and  the  others  went  to 
the  service.  It  seemed  only  an  aeute  attack  of 
indigestion,  but  she  suffered  so  intensely  that  after 
a  time  Dr.  Dye  was  summoned  in  consultation 
and  everything  was  done  to  relieve  her.  After 
midnight  she  was  easier,  and  in  the  morning  she 
felt,  as  she  said,  almost  well  enough  to  get  up.  As 
ever  in  that  climate,  her  temperature  was  taken 
to  guard  against  possible  presence  of  fever,  and 
the  register  showed  it  to  be  already  present,  so 
she  remained  in  bed.  She  seemed  to  suffer  no 
pain  after  the  first  night,  but  she  lacked  reserve 
strength  and  was  unable  to  battle  with  the  fever. 
She  was  never  left  alone  night  nor  day,  and  it  was 
hoped  every  hour  that  there  would  be  a  lowering 
of  the  temperature. 

She  was  so  interested  in  the  report  of  the 
stereopticon  lecture  that  she  asked  Dr.  Dye  to 
take  thirty-five  dollars,  which  had  been  given 
her  by  friends  when  leaving  home,  to  buy  one  for 
use  at  Bolenge  and  her  wish  was  carried  out. 

Mr.  Hensey  and  Dr.  Dye  had  just  returned  from 
a  trip  to  Longa  and  a  letter  had  been  written  to 
the  Board  in  Cincinnati,  urging  an  immediate 
answer  to  a  request  made  for  workers  in  that  new 
and  needy  field.  Mail  came  a  few  days  later,  and 
67 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

in  it  was  a  letter  from  President  McLean,  asking 
if  we  could  not  open  a  new  station,  as  workers 
were  ready.  We  were  all  moved  by  this  evidence 
of  God's  hand  in  that  work  as  he  once  more  ful- 
filled his  promise,  "Before  they  call,  I  will  answer ; 
and  while  they  are  yet  speaking  I  will  hear."  Ella 
thought  and  spoke  of  almost  nothing  else  during 
that  day  but  answered  prayer.  She  received  let- 
ters from  mother,  sister,  brothers,  and  friends  that 
mail,  and  she  enjoyed  them  all  so  much. 

The  wedding  day,  May  15,  dawned  and  found 
two  of  the  guests  unable  to  attend,  but  waiting 
in  bed  to  give  their  loving  congratulations  to  those 
two  whose  lives  were  to  be  linked  by  joy  and  sorrow 
in  the  very  beginning  of  their  union. 

On  the  sixteenth  all  were  anxious  about  Ella, 
for  nothing  would  reduce  the  steadily  rising  tem- 
perature. About  midnight  it  was  thought  best 
to  tell  her  all,  and  this  sad  duty  fell  upon  one 
whose  life  in  these  short  months  had  been  linked 
with  hers  in  the  fellowship  of  joy  and  suffering. 
When  Ella  realized  what  it  meant  that  wondrous 
smile  overspread  her  face  as  she  said:  "It  is  all 
right;  tell  mother  I  am  not  sorry  that  I  came.  I 
have  been  so  happy."  She  remembered  everyone 
and  spoke  of  the  different  remembrances  she 
wished  them  each  to  have  and  what  should  be 
taken  home  to  the  dear  mother.  She  sent  messages 
68 


Africa 

tc  her  brother  and  a  friend  that  she  hoped  some 
time  they  would  come  and  take  her  place.  She 
never  thought  even  in  that  hour  of  self,  but  asked 
for  the  girls  that  she  might  give  them  a  message. 
Her  message  was,  that  the  secret  of  a  truly  happy 
life  was  to  give  themselves  to  Jesus  and  serve 
him  only. 

Once  when  witnessing  the  untiring  devotion 
of  the  orphanage  girls  and  the  Christians  to  their 
sick  mission  mother,  she  had  said,  "I  will  love 
them  as  long  as  I  live  and  I  shall  strive  to  win 
their  love  as  you  have."  And  she  did,  so  that 
the  same  devotion  was  shown  to  her  to  the  very 
end.  It  was  touching  during  those  last  days  to 
see  one  of  them  sitting  on  a  stool  by  her  bedside 
gently  stroking  her  hand,  with  a  tender,  yearning 
look  on  her  face  for  "Mamma  Wuteji,"  whom  she 
so  devotedly  loved,  and  had  promised  to  stay  with 
as  long  as  she  wished. 

At  eight  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  May  seven- 
teenth that  blessed  spirit  was  made  free  and  went 
to  that  higher,  closer  fellowship  with  Him  whom 
she  had  loved  unto  the  death.  Surely,  greater 
love  hath  no  man  than  this. 

One  cannot  speak  of  resignation,  for  she  never 
had  such  a  thought.    Hers  was  the  joyful,  trium- 
phant entrance  into  an  inheritance  bought  for  her 
by  the  precious  blood  of  the  Son  of  God. 
69 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

Tenderly  the  last  services  were  rendered  her, 
and  she  was  laid  to  rest  in  a  white  dress,  embroid- 
ered by  her  sister.  It  seemed  in  its  fresh  purity 
to  be  a  symbol  of  the  spirit  which  had  so  lately 
gone  away. 

Mrs.  Dye,  whose  life  had  been  so  closely  knit 
with  hers,  was  also  in  the  valley  of  the  shadow,  and 
it  seemed  that  they  might  be  reunited  before  the 
day  was  gone,  but  the  great  All  Father  willed  it 
otherwise.     She  slowly  recovered. 

Quietly  those  who  had  loved  Ella  in  life  came 
to  see  her,  the  old  and  the  young,  the  men  and 
the  women,  all  seeming  to  feel  the  presence  of 
Jesus  himself  very  near  as  they  looked  upon  the 
earthly  tabernacle  of  that  lovely  spirit.  Quietly 
and  reverently  they  went  to  the  little  city  of  the 
dead,  where  they  carried  their  beloved  teacher  and 
laid  her  to  rest  beneath  the  shelter  of  a  spreading 
palm.  As  those  who  loved  her,  as  did  all  who  knew 
her,  think  of  her  resting  place  sheltered  from  the 
burning  tropical  heat,  so  may  they  also  remember 
that  she  herself  has  risen  and  entered  forever  into 
the  loving  shelter  of  her  heavenly  Father's  home. 
Again  has  she  said,  "Fll  go  where  you  want  me 
to  go,"  and  the  life  which  seemed  abruptly  taken 
away  is  surely  with  her  Father  performing  some 
higher  service. 


70 


YI 

In  Memoriam 

"Lida's  Wood,"  the  Young  Ladies'  Dormitory 
of  Eureka  College,  was  the  gift  of  Mr.  and  Mrs, 
W.  J.  Ford,  of  Hiram,  Ohio,  and  is  named  in 
memory  of  their  little  daughter  Lida.  Mr.  Ford 
was  for  several  years  the  private  secretary  of  his 
lifelong  friend,  James  A.  Garfield.  After  the 
untimely  death  of  little  Lida,  in  the  midst  of  his 
busy  life  in  Washington,  the  President  wrote  to 
his  bereaved  friend: 

'•The  death  of  a  little  child  seems  to  break 
across  the  general  plan  and  purpose  of  human 
existence  in  a  way  that  appears  like  defeating  not 
only  the  hopes  of  parents,  but  the  plans  of  the 
Creator.  Such  a  death  is  far  more  mysterious  to 
me  than  that  of  an  old  man  or  woman.  I  never 
think  of  the  sweet  little  girl  that  left  us  in  1863 
without  feeling  that  a  beautiful  plan  was  frus- 
trated. The  only  answer  to  such  rebellious  thoughts 
is  to  be  found  in  the  hope  that  these  departed  little 
ones  were  wanted  in  some  higher  service  which,  if 
we  understood,  would  show  us  that  divine  wisdom 
and  goodness  was  in  it  all.  'Their  angels  do  always 
behold  the  face  of  our  Father  in  heaven.' " 
71 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

Sad  as  was  the  loss  to  these  parents  of  their  little 
one,  there  is,  nevertheless,  some  compensation  in 
the  quickened  lives  of  others  and  the  service  they 
have  been  led  to  render.  "Lida's  Wood"  itself  is  a 
perpetuation  of  the  memory  of  their  child.  All  the 
young  women  who  have  shared  the  hospitality  of 
this  hall  have  been  helped  by  her  life. 

In  many  cases  the  death  of  a  young  man  or 
young  woman  seems  even  more  mysterious  than 
that  of  a  little  child.  That  Edward  King  should  be 
drowned  in  the  Irish  Channel,  just  as  he  was  about 
to  enter  upon  his  life  as  a  minister,  was  a  great 
shock  to  his  college  friends  at  Cambridge.  John 
Milton  has  commemorated  this  in  his  elegy  of 
Lycidas.  The  two  "were  nursed  upon  the  selfsame 
hill"  and  "fed  the  same  flock  by  fountain,  shadej 
and  rill."  From  the  temporal,  material  side  there 
seemed  no  rational  explanation  of  his  untimely 
going.  But  from  a  higher  point  of  view  his  friend 
is  not  dead, 

Sunk  though  he  be  beneath  the  watery  floor,   but 

mounted  high, 
Through  the   dear   might  of   him   that  walked   the 

waves. 

And  to  Tennyson  and  the  group  of  friends  in 
the  Apostle's  Club,  the  death  of  Arthur  Hallam 
was,  to  their  inquiring  minds,  simply  unexplain- 
72 


In  Memoriam 

able.  "In  Memoriam"  records  the  struggles 
through  which  Tennyson  himself  passed  in  the 
search  for  many  years  "to  find  in  loss  a  gain  to 
match."  "The  blindfold  sense  of  wrong"  at  the 
first  gives  way  to  the  feeling  that 

Tis  better  to  have  loved  and  lost 
Than  never  to  have  loved  at  all. 

The  sorrow  is  "touched  with  joy"  and  "the  quiet 
sense  of  something  lost"  is  cheered  by  the  thought 
that  "transplanted  human  worth  will  bloom  to 
profit  otherwhere."  "Love  is  and  was  my  Lord  and 
king,"  he  says  at  last,  "and  all  is  well." 

Strange  friend,  past,  present,  and  to  be; 

Love  deeplier,  darklier  understood; 

Behold,   I   dream   a   dream   of  good, 
And   mingle  all  the  world  with  thee. 

And  thus  the  life  of  Arthur  Hallam  became, 
after  years  of  questioning,  the  dominant  influence 
in  the  life  of  the  great  laureate. 

Not  less  mysterious  at  the  first,  to  many  of  her 
friends,  was  the  death  of  this  young  friend  of  ours, 
Ella  Ewing.  It  has  been  difficult  for  those  who 
knew  and  loved  her  best  to  understand  why  she 
should  be  taken  suddenly  away,  just  as  she  had 
crossed  the  threshold  of  the  open  door  into  such  a 
wide  and  needy  field  of  usefulness.    Especially  has 

73 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

this  been  the  case  with  those  who  have  known  that 
she  had  been  set  apart  when  a  mere  babe  in  arms 
by  a  consecrated  mother  and  have  seen  revealed  in 
her  very  play  as  a  child  her  life  purpose.  Her 
home  training  anticipated  the  service  to  be  ren- 
dered at  last  in  distant  lands. 

To  none  would  this  disappointment  and  loss 
come  with  so  deep  a  cut  as  to  the  mother  who  all 
along  had  been  her  guardian  angel.  She  had 
shared  with  her  child  the  missionary  enthusiasm 
which  made  both  glad  for  her  to  go  to  Africa.  She 
had  followed  her  in  every  inch  of  the  way,  wonder- 
ing, praying,  loving.  As  Mrs.  Dye  says,  "It  would 
be  intruding  on  holy  ground  to  even  attempt  to 
speak  of  the  effect  of  the  sudden  and  unexpected 
message,  which  brought  across  the  sea  the  news  of 
Ella's  death,  upon  the  devoted  mother,  sister,  and 
brothers  at  home.  It  was  a  sad  duty  to  bring  per- 
sonally her  last  messages  and  also  her  keepsakes  and 
remembrances  to  that  little  group,  yet  it  was  a 
blessed  privilege  to  meet  that  mother  who  met  this 
in  just  the  same  trustful,  unfaltering  spirit  she 
had  shown  when  in  their  childhood  she  had  con- 
secrated her  children  every  one  to  God  for  his  own 
service.  To  have  known  the  mother  is  to  have 
known  the  daughter  better.  All  had  shared  with 
Ella  her  mother's  letters,  as  all  but  one  of  the 
missionaries    were    motherless.      Had    that    dear 

74 


In  Memoriam 

mother  known  that  she  was  writing  the  last  letters 
her  daughter  would  ever  read,  she  could  not  have 
written  better  ones.  They  were  full  of  the  appre- 
ciation which  is  so  often  unspoken  until  death  has 
come.  It  is  a  benediction  to  be  in  that  home  in 
Eureka  and  feel  the  very  presence  of  the  absent 
one." 

On  the  Sunday  following  the  sad  news  that  Ella 
had  passed  away,  the  Kev.  A.  W.  Taylor,  pastor  of 
the  church  in  Eureka  which  gave  the  money  for 
her  support  in  Africa,  spoke  touchingly  of  the  sig- 
nificance of  such  a  life  and  of  such  a  death.  The 
entire  community  was  deeply  moved  and  sympa- 
thized with  the  family  and  friends.  The  mission- 
ary spirit  of  the  church  was  quickened  by  his  inter- 
pretation of  this  unexpected  and  seeming  untimely 
end.  Later  other  commemorative  exercises  were 
held. 

During  the  commencement  of  that  year,  at  the 
reunion  of  the  Periclesian  Society,  memorial  ad- 
dresses were  made  by  President  Hieronymus  and 
Professor  Radford.  At  the  Founder's  Day  Cele- 
bration in  February,  1908,  Miss  Irma  Davidson, 
a  friend  and  college  mate,  spoke  of  Ella's  influence 
among  her  associates.  When  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Dye 
returned  to  America  they  visited  Eureka  and  the 
latter  told  at  one  chapel  service  of  Ella's  brief  work 
on  the  Congo  and  of  her  influence  there. 
75 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

The  final  memorial  service  was  held  in  the  col- 
lege chapel,  Friday  afternoon,  June  fourth,  1909. 
The  songs  were  in  keeping  with  the  occasion,  all 
of  them  being  Ella's  special  favorites.  The  au- 
dience sang,  "I'll  go  where  you  want  me  to  go, 
dear  Lord,"  the  last  verse  of  which  took  on  a  new 
meaning : 

There's  surely  somewhere  a  lowly  place, 
In  earth's  harvest  fields  so  wide, 

Where  I  may  labor  through  life's  short  day 
For  Jesus  the  Crucified. 

Mrs.  Emma  Ewing,  Ella's  mother,  whose  very 
presence  was  a  benediction,  read  as  a  Scripture 
lesson  Kevelation  14.  6,  7,  and  7.  9-17,  and  com- 
mented on  it.  This  fixed  the  attention,  as  she  said, 
on  "the  great  work  of  world-wide  evangelization^ 
the  subject  that  filled  so  large  a  place  in  Ella's 
thought  and  life.  It  gives  added  interest,"  she 
continued,  "to  John's  graphic  account  of  the  great 
missionary  movement  that  in  prophetic  vision  he 
saw  sweeping  over  the  earth,  to  realize  that  we  are 
participating  in  the  very  work  of  which  he  spoke. 
In  Rev.  14.  6,  7,  we  read :  'And  I  saw  another  angel 
flying  in  mid  heaven,  having  eternal  good  tidings 
to  proclaim  unto  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth,  and 
unto  every  nation  and  tribe  and  tongue  and  peo- 
ple; and  he  saith  with  a  great  voice,  Fear  God, 
and  give  him  glory;  for  the  hour  of  his  judgment 
76 


In  Memoriam 

is  come:  and  worship  him  that  made  the  heaven 
and  the  earth  and  sea  and  fountains  of  waters/ 
Any  agency  that  does  God's  work,  or  carries  his 
message,  may  be  called  an  angel,  and  this  angel 
may  be  thought  to  symbolize  the  great  missionary 
movement  that  is  giving  the  eternal  gospel  to  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  The  angel  flying  may  be 
compared  with  the  rapidity  in  which  these  wonder- 
ful  changes  are  effected.  And  surely  it  is  'a  great 
voice*  that  is  arousing  the  slumbering  nations,  and 
enlisting  their  attention  and  interest  in  the  salva- 
tion of  the  world.  While  living  men  and  women 
have  an  important  part  in  this  great  work,  it  is 
not  exclusively  theirs.  There  is  reason  to  think 
that  the  faithful  ones  whom  death  removes  from 
the  work  here  have  still  a  share  in  this  blessed  serv- 
ice. The  writer  of  the  letter  to  the  Hebrews, 
quoting  from  the  104th  Psalm,  says,  'He  maketh 
spirits  his  angels/  or  messengers.  There  is  another 
inspiring  view  given  in  Eevelation,  the  seventh 
chapter,  when  the  innumerable  company  of  the 
saved  of  all  nations  are  gathered  before  the  throne 
of  God  and  we  are  told  that  they  are  still  engaged 
in  service,  that  they  serve  God  day  and  night.  It 
ought  to  send  us  to  our  world-wide  task  with  great 
enthusiasm  to  remember  the  great  company  of 
spiritual  helpers  who  work  with  us." 

A  fervent  prayer  was  offered  by  the  Eev.  David 
77 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

H.  Shields,  present  pastor  of  the  Eureka  church, 
Miss  Leama  Davis  sang  the  solo  "Some  day  the 
silver  cord  will  break,"  and  all  joined  in  the  chorus 
"And  I  shall  see  him  face  to  face."  A  quartette 
sang  "Some  time  we'll  understand." 

Mr.  Hensey  had  just  returned  from  Bolenge. 
He  and  his  wife,  who  was  Miss  Ferrin,  came  to 
Eureka  especially  for  this  memorial  service.  He 
brought  the  latest  message  from  the  mission  and 
told  of  the  "after  influence"  of  Ella's  life  there. 
Although  her  stay  was  short,  yet  her  influence  was 
strongly  felt  there,  is  yet,  and  will  be  forever.  He 
told  of  a  boy  who,  after  being  in  school  under  Ella 
for  a  little  while,  wanted  to  go  as  an  evangelist. 
Those  in  charge  refused  at  first  to  send  him. 
Finally,  when  there  was  need  for  some  one  to  go, 
and  there  was  no  one  else,  he  was  sent.  He  went 
into  a  back  village  to  preach.  There  he  succeeded 
very  well  until  the  Belgian  officers  came  for  the 
tax.  Because  the  people  did  not  have  it  this  lad 
was  mercilessly  whipped.  He  returned  to  the  mis- 
sion station  bruised  and  beaten.  The  missionaries 
wanted  to  take  the  matter  up,  but  the  boy  said 
that  he  counted  it  "an  honor  to  be  beaten  for 
Christ's  sake." 

Mrs.  Hensey  told  of  the  voyage  from  our  own 
land  to  Africa,  emphasizing  the  sunny,  joyous  dis- 
position of  Ella  as  revealed  in  the  six  weeks  and 
78 


In  Memoriam 

more  of  their  voyage  together.  They  became  close 
friends.  At  one  place  in  Africa  where  they  stopped 
before  reaching  Bolenge,  a  native  Christian  said, 
"We  want  to  meet  that  lady  with  the  happy  face." 

An  impressive  part  of  this  service  was  the  intro- 
duction of  Njoji,  a  native  helper  from  Bolenge. 
who  is  spending  a  year  or  two  in  this  country. 
He  told,  in  his  broken  English,  of  the  love  that  was 
in  Ella's  heart  for  his  own  people,  and  of  her  de- 
sire and  his  own  desire  for  others  to  take  up  the 
work  she  so  soon  laid  down. 

Miss  Edna  Eck,  an  undergraduate  of  the  col- 
lege, under  appointment  to  go  to  the  Congo,  was 
presented  and  expressed  her  joy  at  being  able  to 
go,  not  to  fill  Ella's  place,  because  no  one  could  do 
that,  but  to  do  her  humble  part  in  the  work  there. 

It  seems  worth  while  to  quote  in  full  the  tribute 
which  Dr.  Dye  brought  to  this  service : 

"Ella  Ewing  came  to  us  a  sweet,  typical  Ameri- 
can girl — the  very  embodiment  of  all  that  was 
good.  A  bright,  jolly,  vivacious  disposition  won 
for  her  the  friendship  of  all  about  and  the  true 
ring  to  everything  she  did  and  said  showed  the 
love  that  she  had  for  all  and  kept  the  friendships, 
ripening  them  to  love.  One  need  be  with  her  only 
a  short  while  to  know  that  her  every  wish  was  to 
make  some  one  else  happy,  or  do  for  another  some 
kindness. 

79 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

"She  did  not  have  to  be  told  what  to  do  or 
scarcely  how  to  do  the  work.  She  seemed  to  know, 
and  went  about  doing  things  as  though  she  had 
been  in  Africa  for  years.  The  little  girls  of  the 
mission  who  had  been  so  long  without  a  'mamma' 
during  Mrs.  Dye's  illness,  found  in  her  one  who 
loved  them  from  the  very  first.  They  respected  her 
even  though  she  was  unable  to  make  her  wishes 
known  to  them.  She  had  but  little  trouble  in  the 
discipline  of  the  orphanage  girls.  She  was  a 
source  of  wonder  to  them  all.  Her  abounding 
spirits  and  nature  made  her  a  fast  friend  with  the 
tired-out  missionaries,  and  they  were  rejuvenated 
by  the  very  contagion  of  her  good  spirits.  Full  of 
fun,  she  was  always  playing  tricks  on  us,  and  when 
one  was  turned  on  her  she  enjoyed  it  as  much  as 
any.  How  could  we  help  loving  her  ?  She  did  not 
want  us  to  help  it.  She  reveled  in  the  affection 
that  was  readily  hers.  She  was  soon  'Sister  Ella/ 
and  she  was  happy  in  the  close  fellowship  of  that 
name. 

"From  the  earliest  days  she  went  to  school  and 
entered  a  class,  that  she  might  help  with  that  work 
and  also  hear  the  language  spoken  by  the  children. 
She  soon  became  of  great  help,  so  that  in  a  little 
while,  when  it  became  necessary,  she  for  a  time  as- 
sumed full  charge  of  the  school. 

"She  was  unable  to  eat  heartily,  and  we  told  her 
80 


In  Memoriam 

she  just  must  to  keep  strong ;  so  she  bravely  choked 
down  every  morsel  on  her  plate.  We  suggested  a 
bitter  tonic,  and  though  it  forced  her  to  make  a 
wry  face,  she  declared  she  liked  it.  The  very 
thought  of  a  possibility  that  she  would  be  unable 
to  stay  seemed  to  her  appalling.  Anything  but 
that !  But  finally  she  became  a  victim  to  the  fever, 
and  from  the  very  start  the  case  seemed  serious. 
She  begged  me  not  to  restrain  myself  from  any  of 
the  stronger  measures  of  treatment  and  said  she 
wanted  me  to  use  freely  any  medicines,  no  matter 
how  'bad'  they  were.  She  tried,  0,  how  hard  to 
get  well!  From  the  beginning  her  fever  was 
violent.  She  lay  there  in  a  bed  by  the  side  of  Mrs. 
Dye,  who  was  still  far  from  strong.  When  the 
inevitable  had  to  be  faced,  her  first  thought  was  of 
her — 'Why,  this  will  kill  Eva.'  And  it  almost  did. 
But  even  to  the  last  she  inquired  how  the  one  she 
had  come  to  help  and  who  loved  her  so  dearly  was 
standing  it  all.  So  unselfish!  So  thoughtful  of 
others,  never  of  herself!  We  all  loved  her.  We 
all  mourned  her,  native  and  missionary  alike. 
'Wuteji'  will  never  be  forgotten.  Her  memory  is 
a  cherished  heritage  of  all.  Her  spirit  is  still. liv- 
ing at  Bolenge  and  will  be  an  inspiration  for  all- 
time  to  come  to  those  she  went  to  teach  so  well  of 
the  Saviour,  whom  she  loved." 

Mrs.  Dye  spoke  feelingly  of  the  "closer  com- 
81 


Ella  Campbell  Ewing 

panionship."  Next  to  Ella's  own  nearest  rela- 
tives Mrs.  Dye  was  closest  to  her.  The  simple 
touching  days  of  the  close  of  her  life  were  de- 
scribed as  they  have  been  in  this  sketch.  All  wept 
together  as  she  told  her  heart  message. 

The  bronze  tablet,  a  cut  of  which  appears  on 
page  84,  together  with  the  picture  of  Ella  pre- 
sented to  the  college  by  her  mother,  was  unveiled. 
All  sang  in  closing,  "Crossing  the  Bar,"  and  Mr. 
Hensey  and  Dr.  Dye  prayed  earnestly  that  the 
workers  might  be  multiplied  and  the  work  which 
Ella  loved  be  brought  to  a  rich  fruition. 

The  earlier  friends  in  the  church  at  Jackson- 
ville, where  she  was  reared,  and  the  wide  circle  of 
friends  in  the  college  at  Eureka  and  the  Christian 
Church  there  that  had  chosen. her  for  its  living 
link,  all  joined  in  wishing  her  a  Godspeed  in  the 
long  journey,  and  the  blessings  of  the  Master  on 
her  chosen  work.  The  last  good-bys  were  said, 
native  land  was  left  behind,  the  far-away  land  was 
reached,  and  she  looked  forward  joyfully  to  the 
fulfillment  of  her  most  cherished  hopes.  Scarcely 
three  months  pass  by.  The  African  fever  does  its 
deadly  work  in  a  few  days,  and  the  hoped-for  work 
of  a  half  century  ends  before  it  is  scarcely  begun. 
The  natives,  who  had  in  a  few  weeks  come  to 
love  and  trust  her,  saw  her  laid  away  under  the 
tropical  sun  yonder  on  the  banks  of  the  Congo. 
82 


In  Metiibriam 

And  there  she  sleeps  to-day  in  peace  beneath  the 
palms. 

But  this  life  has  not  been  wasted.  No  such 
sacrifice  is  ever  made  in  vain.  No  such  service  is 
ever  lost.    There  is 

Never  a  sigh  of  passion  or  of  pity, 
Never  a  wail  for  weakness  or  for  wrong, 

Has  not  its  archive  in  the  angel's  city, 
Finds  not  its  echo  in  the  endless  song. 

And  the  dear  ones  that  we  have  known  and  that 
have  passed  on,  are  still  our  guides,  not  as  they 
were  while  here  in  the  flesh,  but  in  a  higher,  holier 
sense  they  see  and  know  and  love  us  still  and  lead 
us  on.  And  in  just  this  way  Ella  Ewing  lives  to- 
day in  the  quickened  lives  of  a  wide  circle  of 
friends.  "The  very  memory  of  her,"  as  Whittier 
so  fittingly  said  of  his  dear  friend,  "makes  our 
faith  in  goodness  strong." 

Others  are  now  in  preparation  to  take  up  the 
work  she  so  soon  left  undone,  and  still  others  will 
follow.  Many  lights  instead  of  this  one  will  illu- 
mine the  Dark  Continent.  Multitudes  will  rejoice 
in  the  gospel  message  carried  to  the  uttermost 
parts  by  those  whose  lives  have  been  touched  by 
hers — yet  not  hers,  but  Christ  that  lived  in  her. 

"Wuteji"  the  natives  called  her  that  had  learned 
to  know  her  and  love  her.    To  them  as  to  us  all. 


Elk  Cairipbell  Ewing 

"she  wore  the  white  flower  of  a  blameless  life."  To 
them,  as  to  us  all,  hers  was  a  noble  example  of  what 
a  young  life  ought  to  be. 

Chinese  Gordon's  epitaph  in  Saint  Paul's,  Lon- 
don, ends  with  the  words,  "Greater  love  hath  no 
man  than  this,  that  a  man  lay  down  his  life  for  his 
friends."  The  bronze  tablet,  placed  by  her  faith- 
ful mother  on  Ella's  grave  in  the  little  mission 
cemetery  at  Bolenge,  also  reads,  "Greater  love  hath 
no  one  than  this."  And  in  tender  memory  of  her, 
the  student  friends  have  placed  an  exact  duplicate 
tublet  of  bronze  on  the  chapel  walls  in  Eureka 
College.    It  reads  in  full : 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


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